Introduction
In the Book Review of Collaborative Learning, Stoerger said “ emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing educational community to a new forms” (2008). Collaborative learning involves groups of people to work, such as completing a project or producing a product. All team members’ work sequentially to the project and towards to the same goal. It is quite difference with cooperative learning, which members work concurrently on the project and focus their personal objective (Dillenbourg, 1999). For a university student, it is vital to learn collaborative learning, which can benefits for their current studying and for their futures’ career path. It also exists challenges for university instructors and students, which will be demonstrated in the following essay.
Benefits of collaborative learning
At first, some of scholars believed that collaborative learning could assist students to accomplish tasks in a team and can learn from each other. They can share their knowledge, skills and resources with other team members. Collaborative learning will bring positive study performance for students and able to improve their personal skills. In the team, all members can help each other and will solve the problem together (Hardy, et al, 2005; Waite & Davis, 2006). Under this circumstance, it will help students to establish a sense of team working with their peers by sharing knowledge to the same target. They will be acknowledging that to study in a group will be more efficiency by working individually and also will learn their shortage from other peers. It is a great opportunity for them to practice teamwork skills with difference personality and to improve their knowledge by learning from others.
Secondly, collaborative learning can be a social interaction mechanism for students to develop their communication skills, which could be useful for their future (Aggarwal, 2000). During collaborative learning