Teaching Sustainable Crop Production Through Team Based Collaborative Learning.

Research shows that students are better able to understand and apply concepts when they are actively engaged and are put in charge of their learning. A team-based collaborative learning project was developed to give students an opportunity to lead their efforts in learning various concepts of sustainable crop production through multi-faceted group activity.  Students were divided into four groups and assigned a reading on a topic related to sustainable crop production which they discussed in the class on a later date. Each group was assigned a specific role to play during the group discussion. First group, called ‘Presenters’ presented the findings from the assigned reading highlighting the salient points. The second group, called ‘Enquirers’, submitted their questions based on the readings at least two days in advance to the class before the group activity. The third group, ‘Problem Solvers’ presented the solutions to the questions/issues raised by the ‘Enquirer’ group. Finally, the fourth group, ‘Supervisors’ took notes and summarized the whole activity including the salient findings presented, the questions raised, and the solutions offered during the group discussion. At least four discussion activities were planned during the semester and the four groups rotated the roles among themselves at each activity to ensure that each group and student performed all the roles at least once during the semester. The groups were evaluated on a range of questions specific to each group by the peer students, the instructor and the teaching assistant. The students were also asked to note what they thought was the most important lesson that they learned from the group discussion. Results from the analysis of responses indicated a positive impact of the collaborative learning project on student learning.