Abstract

Learning outcomes sought through collaborative practices are well-studied and include improvements in student academic skills and achievement. Based on the large body of research that supports this claim, higher education faculty may seek to develop collaborative learning practices for their courses. However, this can be a challenge when a clearly defined theoretical process for transforming a traditional pedagogical approach into one that is collaborative is missing. This paper seeks to address this gap and provide practical guidance through a comprehensive approach that systematically transforms siloed learning into collaborative learning. This approach identifies three key attributes and four key competencies that transform a fragmented team of individual learners into an interdependent, self-sustaining collaborative team. A theoretical model for the process is provided, which demonstrates how this transformation occurs.