Cooperative Learning
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?
Elements of Cooperative Learning
Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning
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)
• 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)
• 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
( no hitchhiking! no social loafing)
• 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:
o Leadership
o Decision-making
o Trust-building
o Communication
o 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
Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning
1. Jigsaw - Groups with five students are set up. Each group member is assigned
some unique material to learn and then to teach to his group members. To help in
the learning students across the class working on the same sub-section get
together to decide what is important and how to teach it. After practice in these
"expert" groups the original groups reform and students teach each other. (Wood,
p. 17) Tests or assessment follows.
2. Think-Pair-Share - Involves a three step cooperative structure. During the
first step individuals think silently about a question posed by the
instructor. Individuals pair up during the second step and exchange
thoughts. In the third step, the pairs share their responses with other pairs, other
teams, or the entire group.
3. Three-Step Interview - Each member of a team chooses another member to
be a partner. During the first step individuals interview their partners by asking
clarifying questions. During the second step partners reverse the roles. For the
final step, members share their partner's response with the team.
4. Round Robin Brainstorming - Class is divided into small groups (4 to 6) with
one person appointed as the recorder. A question is posed with many answers and
students are given time to think about answers. After the "think time," members
of the team share responses with one another round robin style. The recorder
writes down the answers of the group members. The person next to the recorder
starts and each person in the group in order gives an answer until time is called.
5. Three-minute review - Teachers stop any time during a lecture or discussion
and give teams three minutes to review what has been said, ask clarifying
questions or answer questions.
6. Numbered Heads - A team of four is established. Each member is given
numbers of 1, 2, 3, 4. Questions are asked of the group. Groups work together to
answer the question so that all can verbally answer the question. Teacher calls out
a number (two) and each two is asked to give the answer.
7. Team Pair Solo - Students do problems first as a team, then with a partner,
and finally on their own. It is designed to motivate students to tackle and succeed
at problems which initially are beyond their ability. It is based on a simple notion
of mediated learning. Students can do more things with help (mediation) than
they can do alone. By allowing them to work on problems they could not do alone,
first as a team and then with a partner, they progress to a point they can do alone
that which at first they could do only with help.
8. Circle the Sage - First the teacher polls the class to see which students have
a special knowledge to share. For example the teacher may ask who in the class
was able to solve a difficult math homework question, who had visited Mexico,
who knows the chemical reactions involved in how salting the streets help
dissipate snow. Those students (the sages) stand and spread out in the room. The
teacher then has the rest of the classmates each surround a sage, with no two
members of the same team going to the same sage. The sage explains what they
know while the classmates listen, ask questions, and take notes. All students then
return to their teams. Each in turn, explains what they learned. Because each one
has gone to a different sage, they compare notes. If there is disagreement, they
stand up as a team. Finally, the disagreements are aired and resolved.
9. Partners - The class is divided into teams of four. Partners move to one side of
the room. Half of each team is given an assignment to master to be able to teach
the other half. Partners work to learn and can consult with other partners working
on the same material. Teams go back together with each set of partners teaching
the other set. Partners quiz and tutor teammates. Team reviews how well they
learned and taught and how they might improve the process.
Credits:
David and Roger Johnson. "Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October 2001.
<[Link]
David and Roger Johnson. "An Overview of Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October
2001. <[Link]
Howard Community College's Teaching Resources. "Ideas on Cooperative Learning and
the use of Small Groups." [Online] 15 October 2001.
<[Link]
Kagan, Spencer. "Kagan Structures for Emotional Intelligence." [Online] 15 October
2001. < "[Link]
