Collaborative learning : higher education, interdependence, and the authority of knowledge /

Bruffee (English, Brooklyn College) proposes a fundamental change in higher education. In place of the traditional cognitive view of knowledge, he recommends that knowledge be understood as conversation between knowledgeable peers in communities. This new understanding of knowledge makes it interdependent and collaborative. Knowledge viewed in this way alters the authority of knowledge, of teachers, and of higher education. In Part 1, we learn what collaborative learning is. Bruffee describes consensus groups and writing for collaboration. He relates how this works in classrooms, with peer tutors, and with instructional technology. Part 2 lays the theoretical framework for collaborative learning, discusses cognitive views of learning, and describes collaborative learning and its critics. When teachers change their understanding of knowledge, teaching, and learning, students will gain a new view of the authority of knowledge. The scholarly apparatus includes notes, glossary, works cited, and an index. This book is addressed to anyone who is interested in higher education. General; advanced undergraduates and up. J. L. Susskind; Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg