Literature Review on Small-Group Learning Activities

On Small-Group Learning Activities - Literature review Example If collaborative effort is applied to any task then the productivity tends to increase (Zawojewski & Et. Al., 2003). The overall study tries to demonstrate the importance of the small group learning activities. Objective of the Study The main objective of the study has been to understand the role of the small-group learning activities. The study will be related to the United Kingdom undergraduate students in subject areas linked to health care. The study will provide certain supporting evidences in small-group learning activities for the small group to discuss and debate. A clinical based scenario will be selected upon which the overall literature review will be based. At first the literature review will try to make the reader understand as to what the term small-group learning activity denotes. It will further try to explain the clinical based evidences that can be used by the small groups of students to discuss and debate. Finally, the literature review will try to identify the imp act of such small group learning activities. ... Therefore, it is important to understand if the three terms that is collaborative learning, cooperative learning and small-group learning express the same meaning. Most of the practitioners consider all the three types of learning to have the same goals, that is, to change a passive classroom environment into active student-centered environment. However, it has been evident that most of the authors don’t view the three types of learning as synonymous. In this regards, it can be discussed that the two terms collaborative learning as well as cooperative learning can be distinguished from each other. However, both the terms seem to focus upon the notion that students need to engage themselves with the study material so that they can learn the information in a meaningful manner. These terms assist in creating the environment where the students engage themselves in the study material by partaking of their knowledge and ideas by means of providing the support, feedback along with en couragement and by teaching each other. It is to be pointed out that the term small-group learning is quite flexible as well as comprehensive. It further reveals that there might be circumstances when the members of the group don’t cooperate or it might even be the case when the members of the group simply collaborate. The type of task the group needs to accomplish determines the interaction among the group members in most of the cases. It can be demonstrated that the small-group learning has turned into current label that is given to the type of active-learning activity by putting the students into groups and they are asked to achieve the task (Kreke & Towns, 1998). Importance of Using the Small-Group