COLLABORATIVE LEARNING:

Other Collaborative Learning Practices from Ryerson Community and Beyond

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PRACTICES AT RYERSON UNIVERSITY


Ryerson faculty reading this page are encouraged to submit your practices and/or samples of instruments on collaborative learning to the Learning and Teaching Office at lto@ryerson.ca.

 

  • “To Please & To Educate” Scholarly Salons for Student Engagement
    Jacqui Gingras - School of Nutrition, Ryerson University

Scholarly Salons was a collaborative learning project that took place with 2nd/3rd year Nutrition students in the 2006-2007 academic year. The salons took the form of feminist participatory action research project, and were based on the historical French and Italian tradition of meeting at “salons” for the exchange of ideas through lively conversation wherein many great ideas and creativity was born. Three salons took place throughout the study where both male and female students of the program came together to explore and articulate their experiences. The salons offered a unique opportunity for qualitative feedback from students on their experience of student engagement as well as on discussions on how to strengthen scholarly communities for learning and teaching. The energy and ideas of each salon continued into the next and the excitement and passion for engagement heightened with each reunion. Each salon resulted in rich and meaningful expressions of the student experience. A centerpiece of the students’ discussions focused on collaborative learning between professors and students, in this instance with respect to group work. Consequently, during the salons, the students created Instructing and Facilitating Group Work in a Classroom: A Toolkit through which faculty and students, together could learn about the elements and nature of group work in an academic environment. It was their hope that the toolkit would be implemented as a permanent component of the Nutrition curriculum and saw it as a corner stone to an improved teaching and learning environment. At this time efforts are underway to adopt the toolkit for use in Nutrition courses.

PRACTICES FROM OTHER UNIVERSITIES

For Faculty

For Students

Please see the selected resources for faculty and students related to collaborative learning for guidelines and strategies for students working in groups.