ABSTRACT
Collaborating is what the members of a class, as a learning community, do to construct meaning together and share the meanings accomplished by reaching inquiry learning goals. A learning community is directed toward learning in a constructivist, social environment. Collaborating requires involving all group members in every key step of a project, whereas cooperating allows each person to make an independent contribution. Collaborating involves everyone interacting, sharing ownership of the process as well as the final outcome, and generating shared meaning of the main ideas. Collaborating enables students to share in the social and cognitive aspects of the inquiry process. A jigsaw approach within inquiry nicely illustrates the process of collaborating to learn. Collaborating enables students to share in the social and cognitive aspects of the inquiry process. Positive interdependence among students is key to both collaborative and cooperative learning.
