| The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a collaborative learning and communication model for higher education. On a university campus there are various psycho-social and organizational barriers to collaboration inside and outside of the classrooms. Scholars have stated that teachers rarely talk with each other about their teaching, there is little multi-disciplinary research and studies have shown that there is little or no collaboration in meetings and forums outside of university classrooms. So, what are the barriers to collaborative communication and learning and how can these barriers be removed through collaborative strategies? These are the questions that this study explored.;There have been programs and layers of structure such as learning communities which were developed in higher education to generate more collaborative learning on university campuses. However, new programs and structure do not ensure that more collaboration will occur since collaborative learning requires high order thinking and communicative abilities. So, I chose a qualitative approach to explore in-depth the thoughts, values, beliefs, attitudes and practices of the university community consisting of the faculty, administrators and students of a research one university.;Through the understanding of the psycho-social and organizational barriers to collaboration, strategies began to unfold and a new model for collaborative learning and communication was developed. This model reflects a high synergy, totally integrated social and cognitive system for individual and organizational transformation. |
