Cooperative
learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with
students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities
to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is
responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates
learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the
assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete
it.
Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit
so that all group members:
- Gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.)
- Recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.).
- Know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.).
- Feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!).
Why use Cooperative
Learning?
Research has
shown that cooperative learning techniques:- Promote student learning and academic achievement
- Increase student retention
- Enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience
- Help students develop skills in oral communication
- Develop students' social skills
- Promote student self-esteem
- Help to promote positive race relations
5 Elements of Cooperative Learning
It is only under certain conditions
that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than competitive
and individualistic efforts. Those conditions are:
1. Positive Interdependence
(sink or swim together)
(sink or swim together)
- Each group member's efforts are required and
indispensable for group success
- Each group member has a unique contribution to
make to the joint effort because of his or her resources and/or role and
task responsibilities
2. Face-to-Face Interaction
(promote each other's success)
(promote each other's success)
- Orally explaining how to solve problems
- Teaching one's knowledge to
other
- Checking for understanding
- Discussing concepts being
learned
- Connecting present with past
learning
3. Individual & Group
Accountability
- Keeping the size of the group small. The smaller
the size of the group, the greater the individual accountability may be.
- Giving an individual test to each student.
- Randomly examining students orally by calling on
one student to present his or her group's work to the teacher (in the
presence of the group) or to the entire class.
- Observing each group and recording the frequency
with which each member-contributes to the group's work.
- Assigning one student in each group the role of
checker. The checker asks other group members to explain the reasoning and
rationale underlying group answers.
- Having students teach what they learned to
someone else.
4. Interpersonal & Small-Group Skills
- Social skills must be taught:
- Leadership
- Decision-making
- Trust-building
- Communication
- Conflict-management skills
5. Group Processing
- Group members discuss how well they are achieving
their goals and maintaining effective working relationships
- Describe what member actions are helpful and not
helpful
- Make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change
Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative Learning. [Online article]. Retrieved April 28, 2012, from the World Wide Web: http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm
very complete alba. I like it and learn new things from it.
ReplyDeleteDear Alba,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evany.
Greetings,
MIAU