Collaborative activities that range from 10–30 minutes allow students to tackle more challenging and complex tasks. These activities typically involve three steps:

• Step 1: Introducing the Task or Activity
• Step 2: Providing Time for the Task
• Step 3: Debriefing

Also on this page:

• Ideas for Medium-Length Group Activities
• Ideas for Writing as a Collaborative Activity

Step 1: Introducing the Task or Activity

• Provide clear instructions both verbally and in writing (through a slide, handout, or on the board).
• For complicated activities or problem-solving, it often helps to provide a handout, worksheet, or slide that divides the process into steps. Some instructors indicate how much time they expect each step to take, which helps both students and instructors recognize when something is taking longer than expected and they might need to ask for or offer help.
• Let students know what they will be expected to do at the end of the activity. You might ask them to:
  • Share ideas from their group with the rest of the class.
  • Turn something in for participation credit, grading, or feedback, increasing their accountability.
    • Consider whether you want students to submit the work as a group and/or as individuals.
    • Some instructors ask their students to take a photo of their work and submit it to Canvas for feedback, credit, or for other students to see.
    • If students are turning in a shared, text-based document, such as a Google Doc, you might ask them to color-code their individual contributions to encourage everyone to participate in the collaborative work.

Step 2: Providing Time for the Task

• Sometimes activities can take more or less time than anticipated. Walking around the room, listening to and talking with students will help you gauge how the activity is moving along.
• Group size has an impact on how long activities will take. Large groups will need more time for discussion. For example, if you’d like each student to talk in a small group discussion for 1–2 minutes, a group of 4 will need at least 6–8 minutes for the discussion portion of an activity.
• If you notice students are getting stuck, you may want to pause or interrupt the activity to clear up confusion or give students a hint. Teaching assistants can also help with addressing student questions as they circulate among groups.
• It’s helpful to have an additional challenge ready for groups who finish early or an alternative plan if the whole class finishes before expected.

Step 3: Debriefing

• Consider calling on a few groups to share a summary of their conclusions. If you frequently use group work, randomly selecting groups or areas of the classroom to report out can bring more voices into the classroom debrief.
• Address any misconceptions or clarify confusing points. It’s important that your students walk away with the correct answers.
• Open the floor for questions or comments.
• Ask students to individually reflect on or summarize their takeaways from an activity or discussion to help them process and remember what they have learned.

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Ideas for Medium-Length Group Activities

• Group problem solving
• Worksheets
• Diagramming or concept mapping, especially on a whiteboard or using sticky notes
• Question generation (e.g., about a reading, a film, an artwork, an experiment)
• Pro-con outline or comparison chart of a solution, policy, design, etc.
• Case study analysis
• Close reading, observation, or listening, paired with discussion (e.g., reading using texts; observation using images, objects, video, or nature; listening using music, birds, or soundscapes)
• Peer review or feedback on work
• Oral skills practice (e.g., conversing to learn a language, make a business pitch, explain a concept)
• Educational games
• Design or creative work (e.g, zine, slides, architectural design, model for an engineering device, or experimental plan)

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Ideas for Writing as a Collaborative Activity

Although we tend to associate collaborative learning with discussions, collaborative writing activities can be quite effective, whether used as quiet in-class work or as online assignments outside of class.

Here are a few examples of using writing as a collaborative activity:

• Social annotation using software: Ask students to annotate, highlight, discuss in writing, or collaborate on text documents, images, video, audio, or websites. Software, such as Perusall, allows you to post guiding questions for students to respond to, and allows them to post their own questions for peer responses. Some instructors have students complete this work outside of class, while others use it for in-class activities.
• Collaborative writing on paper: Ask students to write their thoughts, ideas, or questions on a piece of paper, then pass it to another student to read and add to. Alternatively, you can ask students to draw an object, organism, or process, then switch with a peer to reflect on and discuss the details each of them included or forgot.
• Collaborative online documents: Ask students to add ideas to a Google Doc, Google Slides, online whiteboard, or concept map in or outside of class. Used in class, it can give you an immediate view of student contributions, provide a form of accountability, and help students to stay on task. Students can later come back to the shared document to revise, re-use, or add information.
• Peer Feedback: Students submit their first draft of an essay, research proposal, or design online, where it is distributed for peer review using tools like Feedback Fruits, Canvas, or comments in Google Docs or MS Word. 

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