Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning

            CL involves structuring classes around small groups that work together in such a way that each group member's success is dependent on the group's success.  CL isn’t just having students sit side-by-side at the same table to talk with each other as one student does all the work and the others put their names on the product as well. Cooperation involves much more than being physically near other students, discussing material, helping, or sharing material with other students.

Type

1. Informal Cooperative Learning Group consists of having students work together to achieve a learning goal in temporary. During a lecture, informal cooperative learning can be used to draw student attention on the material through small groups throughout the lesson or by discussion at the end of a lesson, and typically involves groups of two (e.g. turn to your partner discussions). Discussion typically have four components that include: 
            1. Formulating a response to questions asked by the educator

            2. Sharing responses to the questions asked with a partner

            3. Listening to a partner’s responses to the same question

            4. Creating a new well-developed answer

The teacher’s role is to keep students more actively engaged. Informal cooperative learning ensures students are actively involved in understanding what is being presented.  It also provides time for teachers to move around the class listening to what students are saying.  Listening to student discussions can give instructors direction and insight into how well students understand the concepts and material being as well as increase the individual accountability of participating in the discussions.

2. Formal CLG consists of 2-6 students working together with discussions lasting for a few minutes up to an entire period to achieve shared learning goals and complete jointly specific tasks and assignments. Formal cooperative learning is structured, facilitated, and monitored by the educator over time and is used to achieve group goals in task work (e.g. completing a unit). Types of formal cooperative learning strategies include:

           - The jigsaw technique

           - Assignments that involve group problem solving and decision making

           - Laboratory or experiment assignments

           - Peer review work (e.g. editing writing assignments).

           - Jigsaw activities are wonderful because the student assumes the role of the 

teacher on a given topic and is in charge of teaching the topic to a classmate. The idea is that if students can teach something, they have already learned the material.

3. Base group learning (e.g., a long term study group) is effective for learning complex subject matter over the course or semester and establishes caring, supportive peer relationships, which in turn motivates and strengthens the student’s commitment to the group’s education while increasing self-esteem and self-worth. Base group approaches also make the students accountable to educating their peer group in the event that a member was absent for a lesson. This is effective both for individual learning, as well as social support.

Elements 

Five key elements differentiate cooperative learning from simply putting students into groups to learn (Johnson et al., 2006).

1. Positive Interdependence: You'll know when you've succeeded in structuring positive interdependence when students fully participate and put forth effort within their group. Each group member has a task/role/responsibility therefore must believe that they are responsible for their learning and their group as well.

2. Individual Accountability: The essence of individual accountability in cooperative learning is "students learn together, but perform alone." This ensures that no one can "hitch-hike" on the work of others. A lesson's goals must be clear enough that students are able to measure whether (a) the group is successful in achieving them, and (b) individual members are successful in achieving them as well.

3. Face-to-Face (Promotive) Interaction: Important cognitive activities and interpersonal dynamics only occur when students promote each other's learning. This includes oral explanations of how to solve problems, discussing the nature of the concepts being learned, and connecting present learning with past knowledge. It is through face-to-face, promotive interaction that members become personally committed to each other as well as to their mutual goals.

4. Interpersonal and Small Group Social Skills: students learn academic subject (task work) and also interpersonal and small group skills (teamwork). Thus, a group must know how to provide effective leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict management. Given the complexity of these skills, teachers can encourage much higher performance by teaching cooperative skill components within cooperative lessons. As students develop these skills, later group projects will probably run more smoothly and efficiently than early ones.

5. Group Processing: After completing their task, students must be given time and procedures for analyzing how well their learning groups are functioning and how well social skills are being employed. Group processing involves both taskwork and teamwork, with an eye to improving it on the next project.

Why

Research has shown that students who work in cooperative groups do better on tests, especially with regard to reasoning and critical thinking skills, are more like to make friends in class, have more self-esteem, and like the subject and college better than those that do not (Johnson and Johnson, 1989 ). Students who are learning cooperatively are more active participants in the learning process (Lord, 2001). Also, they care about the class and the material and they are more personally engaged.

Techniques

          - STAD (Student Teams Achievement Division): consists of heterogeneous group of 4 students working together on a given topic and complete a work product (e.g., a worksheet of answer or problem solutions); Then students take individual quizzes. Quiz scores are compared to the past performance. Team scores are computed on the team member’s scores. The instructor shows the high-score team on a bulletin board, a class newsletter, etc.

          - TGT (Teams Games Tournaments): similar to STAD, but the quiz is replaced with academic games tournament. Students compete with players who are in the same levels from other team to earn points. Then each team sum up the points from their team members to be one single team score.

         - Numbered head together: Students are placed in groups and each person is given a number. The teacher poses a question and students "put their heads together" to figure out the answer. The teacher calls a specific number to respond as spokesperson for the group. By having students work together in a group, this strategy ensures that each member knows the answer to problems or questions asked by the teacher. Because no one knows which number will be called, all team members must be prepared.

          - Jigsaw I: Students are members of two groups: home group and expert group. In the heterogeneous home group, students are each assigned a different topic. Once a topic has been identified, students leave the home group and group with the other students with their assigned topic. In the new group, students learn the material together before returning to their home group. Once back in their home group, each student teaches his or her assigned topic

          - Jigsaw II: Robert Slavin's (1980) variation of Jigsaw in which members of the home group are assigned the same material, but focus on separate portions of the material. Each member must become an "expert" on his or her assigned portion and teach the other members of the home group.

         - Reverse Jigsaw: created by Timothy Hedeen. It differs from the original 

Jigsaw during the teaching portion of the activity. In the Reverse Jigsaw technique, students in the expert groups teach the whole class rather than return to their home groups to teach the content.

       - Think Pair Share: originally developed by Frank T. Lyman (1981). It allows students to contemplate a posed question or problem silently. The student may write down thoughts or simply just brainstorm in his or her head. When prompted, the student pairs up with a peer and discusses his or her ideas and then listens to the ideas of his or her partner. Following pair dialogue, the teacher solicits responses from the whole group.

     - Group investigation: developed by Shlomo and Yael Sharan. Students form 2 – 6 members groups. Then choose subtopic from a unit being studied by entire class. Team members gather information, review, analyze and reach to conclusions. Then each team presents its finding to the whole class. It can be role play, panels, simulations, etc instead of lecturing or telling.

     - CIRC (Cooperated Integrated Reading Composition)

     - Learning Together: developed by David and Roger Johnson. Students work 

on assignment sheets in 4 – 5 members’ heterogeneous groups. The groups hand in a single sheet product and receive praise and rewards. This emphasizes team-bulding activities before students begin working together and regular discussions within groups about how well they are working together