Learn from Others
We learn a great deal from each other. Most children learn how to speak by interacting with their families and friends. As adults, we consult others on every imaginable topic including interpersonal dilemmas and housing repairs. Our colleagues provide role models, guidance, reassurance, and advice. They can also confuse and mislead.

Both unintended and unanticipated consequences arise when students learn from each other. Peers can reinforce stereotypes. Young women may learn that science and mathematics are male domains. Young men may learn to take action rather than to reflect. Students may learn that only the elite can participate in scientific reasoning. Peers can also reinforce intuitions that scientists would dispute. What happens when individuals assert that the earth is round like a pancake, that scientists uncover facts, or that light dies out when no longer visible?

How can we orchestrate classroom science learning to take advantage of social interactions, promote social roles, prepare students to learn from peers in the future, and ensure that students help each other learn science? How can class interactions promote knowledge integration?

Four pragmatic principles help us learn from each.

Our first pragmatic principle asserts: Encourage students to listen and learn from each other. Our second pragmatic principle asserts: Design social activities to promote productive and respectful interactions. Our third pragmatic principle says: Scaffold groups to design shared criteria and standards. Based on CLP experience, our fourth pragmatic principle asserts: Employ multiple social activity structures. We discuss these pragmatic pedagogical principles in greater detail in Computers, Teachers, Peers.