Collaborative Learning: The Group is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

How can our social brain aid our academic learning? Which role do our emotions play in learning? Can collaborative learning lead to improved ac-ademic achievement and, arguably more importantly, help knowledge trans-fer into the real world? This paper researches neuroscience, cognitive psy-chology, social interdependence and social learning examining the role of collaboration in learning. It researches empirical data, including meta-analyses and studies, into collaborative interactive learning, in order to support the argument that collaboration leads to increased academic achievement compared to students who learn via traditional methods. Fi-nally, it identifies six factors crucial to effective collaborative learning: ac-countability, versatility, ambience, comprehensibility, amalgamation and recapitulation (AVACAR).