Collaborative Learning and Writing ─ Essays on Using Small Groups in Teaching English and Composition

Nineteen American academics contribute 16 chapters to a practical source book to help fellow instructors incorporate effective collaborative learning into their writing classes. Opening chapters lay the groundwork for understanding why collaborative learning and peer review are important--the benefits of peer review as a collaborative activity, how to promote successful peer review sessions, re-visioning the performance of peer review in writing classes, helping students embrace the process, and combining consensus and dissensus productively in collaborative settings. Subsequent sections focus on how to best select groups within a writing class, the use of collaborative learning techniques in digital environments, considerations about what types of writing classes may be best suited to group learning methods, and which special populations, such as English language learners, might benefit most from collaboration. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kathleen M. Hunzer is an associate professor of English and the director of Written Communication at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Her writing has appeared in Feminist Teacher, Writing Lab Newsletter, Literary Magazine Review, Pedagogy, and International Journal of Listening.