Collaborative learning: The key to boosting your team’s skill development
Take a moment and think about an enjoyable, effective learning experience you’ve had. No need to limit it to a specific setting; the best examples don’t have to come from a classroom. Chances are, the experience you’re reflecting on wasn’t from a lecture or book. It likely included a leader that you connected with, on a topic matter relevant to you, alongside other learners with similar goals. These elements comprise the core principles of collaborative learning, defined as “students working together in an attempt to create knowledge and achieve shared learning goals (Nguyen, 2020).” While there are many different ways to learn, collaborative learning is a popular approach for very good reason. Research proves it works, and it applies to many different environments.
As a content designer, I often create instructional material for people to use on the job. My main goal is to ensure they can apply the knowledge to their role and responsibilities. I also have a masters in instructional design, so I’m equipped with insights from the world of learning science to help me achieve this. Wherever possible, the principles of collaborative learning influence how I approach this work. While much of this article is focused on design application, the lessons can be useful to all industries. Use this article to reflect on how collaborative learning can benefit you and your team.
What is collaborative learning?
Collaborative learning is common in higher education, though it’s a natural fit for the workplace. This approach moves away from traditional teacher-centric, lecture-style instruction. Instead, it favors leadership and active participation from the learners themselves. It exposes learners to real-world challenges and hands-on opportunities to solve them (Dirkson, 2016). Collaboration can happen through peer teaching, group work, collective critiques, and much more.
This type of learning works best when certain conditions are met:
- the subject matter is relevant to their responsibilities
- the skills are directly applicable to their work
- the experience provides hands-on learning opportunities, and
- there is some level of accountability for the learner throughout the experience (Ertmer & Glazewski, 2018).
Essentially, the last thing adult learners want is to be “talked at” about topics not obviously tied to their work. They need to feel as though the learning is not in a vacuum. By addressing this, collaborative learning presents many benefits to employees developing skills on the job. It allows them to create a foundation of skills as a team, providing them with a built-in support network. In turn, it fosters a culture of empathy that strengthens team-building and trust. Supportive teams provide a healthy environment for critiques where people feel comfortable sharing. Being able to practice, share, receive feedback, and iterate is crucial for skills growth. Allowing a team to do that together multiplies those results exponentially.
What learning science has to say
Traditional corporate learning methods can be well suited for concepts and technical information. This includes badges, video courses, lectures, and other asynchronous approaches. When reviewing a complex topic like quantum computing, learners appreciate materials they can get deep with. But what about something skill-based, like video animation or using Figma? While YouTube tutorials and online guides can help, they aren’t as effective for building a robust skill set (Wilson, 2018). Collaborative learning provides a fuller experience more tailored to practical skill development.
The practice of collaborative learning is upheld by social-constructivist learning theory. Constructivism argues that learners construct knowledge rather than passively take in information (University of Buffalo). Constructivists favor engaging experiences that facilitate knowledge construction. Think, ‘immersing a language learner in a French-speaking restaurant’ over ‘reading examples of restaurant conversation on paper.’ Social-constructivists take it one step further. They argue that learning is inherently a social activity. Humans learn best through participation and collaboration (Vygotsky, 1978).
One method popular within constructivist learning communities is Problem Based Learning (PBL). PBL allows learners to construct knowledge through deep engagement with meaningful problems (Ertmer & Glazewski, 2018). This concept first became mainstream during the 1960s within the medical community. Educators found that students struggled with patient care despite scoring well on tests. Their book knowledge did not transfer to practical clinical skills, and unfortunately, patients suffered. Universities quickly recognized they had to change course. They began offering students authentic, relevant medical problems to engage with. Classes were presented with cases from the field and worked in groups to solve them. Tackling real-world problems allowed students to contextualize content and develop higher-order thinking skills. Through collaborative learning, educators found that students had higher motivation and improved skill-transfer. Their test scores remained high, but their clinical practice improved dramatically. Fifty years of research demonstrates PBL’s success towards these outcomes (Ertmer & Glazewski, 2018). However, you don’t need to work in a hospital to see the applications for PBL. When implemented in any workplace, it can break down the barrier between learning new skills and applying them.
Examples of this learning style currently exist all over the workplace. Within IBM, many of the successful badge courses already simulate Problem Based Learning. One example is the anti-harassment training video course that IBMers must take each year. Anchored by actors demonstrating real scenarios, these videos bring you into their world. You can analyze body language, tone, intent, and other factors that aren’t conveyed well by text. To assess understanding, the videos provide interactive questions that learners answer in context. This keeps the material fresh, relevant, and instantly applicable. Courses like this show that PBL can be useful for solitary learners, but how can collaboration improve it?
Benefits of collaborative learning
When colleagues come together to learn a skill, unique opportunities for growth arise. For one, it allows each learner to build a common foundation of skills together. Let’s imagine a group of design researchers collaborating to learn Airtable. No one has experience using the program, so they decide to list the functions most relevant to their work. Each person in the group chooses a function and teaches themselves how to use it. Then, each colleague demonstrates how to use their function to the others. Through teaching, the demonstrator forms a deeper understanding which can improve memory recall (Wilson, 2018). In turn, the learners practicing together develop their skills. Over time, this practice of “peer teaching” builds a mutual skillset between the group. If someone was tasked with teaching themselves Airtable alone, it could be overwhelming. By building a foundation together, learners have a natural support network they can rely on.
Depending on one’s comfort level, group critiques can be an uneasy experience for designers. Researchers found that 70% of creative professionals experienced imposter syndrome during their careers (Eruteya, 2022). This anxiety can make it difficult for designers to share their work and seek feedback. Remote office settings can amplify these feelings even more, making it easier for designers to opt out of crits entirely. Collaborative learning provides an avenue through these feelings and towards a more positive sharing experience. Let’s revisit the Airtable learning group. As the learners develop a rapport, they become more comfortable asking questions and sharing work. Because these sessions aren’t top-down lectures, there is more opportunity for discussion. It allows a circulation of ideas and feedback in a “low stakes” setting. Additionally, with everyone starting as a beginner, imposter syndrome becomes a smaller factor. This team-built culture of sharing and empathy is a natural side effect of collaborative learning.
Learning in a social setting provides benefits besides team-building. Accountability is another tool that increases learner motivation. We’ve probably all benefited from having a gym accountability buddy at some point, and this is no different. There are obvious accountability structures built into peer teaching — no one wants to be “that person” unprepared for their lesson. But what about a method like Think-Pair-Share? In this application, learners are given a problem to work on. They begin independently, then pair up to discuss their approach. Through collaboration, they take the best of both ideas and form a new one. Then, the pair presents to the larger group, where each pair has a chance to share. Because learners know they will share and present their idea, there is intrinsic motivation to apply themselves. As such, there is less risk of a person skipping or halfheartedly completing the work. Personally speaking, I’ve worked through the IBM Figma badge course in fits and starts. It’s 12 hours long, and without social obligation, it’s easy to prioritize other work. Keeping learners accountable to a group and a process can yield more consistent results (Dirkson, 2016).
A step beyond accountability is the idea of social proof, which is also a factor in collaborative learning. When people are in groups, they look to each other to understand and establish norms and behaviors. When learning together, people do the same, and try to match or exceed the quality of work they see from others. In psychology and learning science, this is known as “social proof (Dirkson, 2016).” Imagine a group of people learning how to web design. After working together in small groups, they’ve learned, applied, and shared new skills. Through the process, they’ve become familiar with each others level of work. This establishes social proof. When it’s time for each learner to build their own page, they then hold themselves to that same standard. When groups set their expectations high, it raises the quality for everyone involved.
Collaborative learning in the workplace is not only effective, it’s also popular. Many people welcome a break from their day-to-day to learn something new and connect with others. It’s adaptable to remote work settings, so colleagues can still appreciate the social aspect. Collaborative learning also lightens the burden on individual people to self-teach complex skills. Despite busy schedules, consistently held group meetings force people to make time. For managers, collaborative learning is also attractive because it should not require extra budget. Teams are able to leverage each other to learn, not a costly class or instructor. While this isn’t an exhaustive list of benefits, it should give you an idea why collaborative learning works.
Collaborative learning in action
Over the years, our content design team has received dozens of requests for educational videos. Product teams sought tutorials, demos, and overview videos for different uses. One by one, these videos were assigned to individual designers for production. Though we were able to meet the demand, it wasn’t without significant challenge. The six of us used different programs and lacked a common skill set. Some animated objects in Keynote while others attempted Camtasia or Adobe Captivate. By cobbling together workarounds, the already-lengthy video production process took even longer. The final results were good, but could be better, and lacked cohesion across the team. To make video production more sustainable, we knew we had to come together and align on a process.
We were fortunate to have Chris DeCicco, a proficient Adobe user, in our department - so we asked if he’d be willing to teach us the basics. He said yes, and we agreed to meet every two weeks. We convened on Adobe Premiere and After Effects, which addressed our problem of using too many programs.
During each lesson, Chris would give us context around a video production technique. We’d often start by watching a video that demonstrated the concept well or needed improvement. Seeing real examples helped contextualize the technique and set the standard for how it should look. Lessons covered overlay mattes, basic sound editing, animating along a path, and much more. He would then walk us through the process, ensuring time for questions and replays. By keeping each lesson to one specific technique, we never felt overwhelmed with new information.
After the lesson, we’d be given homework to apply the skill on our own time. We had access to the recording if we needed a refresher and a Slack channel for questions. During the next meeting, we’d begin by showing our homework for critique. Each designer would present their video, describe their process, and show their work. Chris would ask questions, and offer feedback. This provided opportunity for the designer to teach their new skill and receive peer critique.
Over the course of several months, our team built a library of essential skills that we applied to our video work. This created a consistency across our team’s portfolio, keeping our videos on brand and up to standards. We had a network of supportive colleagues to ask questions of, and video critiques are still part of our team culture. Additionally, our video making process became easier, more streamlined, and less time consuming. Some on the team remarked it was one of the most effective — and fun! — learning experiences they’ve had on the job. The results backed it up.
Best practices
You don’t need to be an instructional designer to implement collaborative learning in your workplace. It isn’t necessary to know all the learning science behind your decisions. What matters most is using it whenever it feels right. Expected to learn a new tool at work? Find some interested colleagues and form a learning group. Have a skill you think others could use? Offer to host a lunch and learn. If you’re a manager, provide some incentive for your team to try it out. Whatever your approach, keep in mind these helpful tips:
- Keep the topic relevant and applicable to your work
- Incorporate synchronous, interactive elements
- Consistency and accountability is key
- Utilize the expertise of your colleagues whenever possible
If you’re looking for inspiration, the Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation has some great example activities. Try it out and see what works. Keep these techniques in mind and your team will thank you for the doors it opens.
Lindsay Baer is a Content Designer at IBM based in Poughkeepsie, NY. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
