Every discipline has to attend to both the content of the discipline as well as the broader skills that contribute to success within the discipline. It is tempting to neglect these larger habits and skills and to hope they are being taught elsewhere or that they materialize naturally. The investment of class time for the development of collaborative skills is amply rewarded.
Many newer curricula involve students in group projects.
In general, they do not pay enough attention to the dynamics that arise in small student groups that can sidetrack progress. Some curricula provide a page of notes on appropriate group interaction for the teacher to distribute to the class. Such guidelines, passively received, are unlikely to dramatically influence behavior. Students pay much more attention to rules which they have had a hand in creating. For example, assessment rubrics tend to be more demanding and more closely adhered to when generated by a class.