Cooperative Learning

1
Cooperative Learning

• A teaching strategy for
• covenant and content

2
COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• WHAT IT IS NOT
• The panacea for all your instructional
  problems
• The only way to teach effectively
• The best way to teach everything.

3
Differences Between Traditional Groupwork and
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Traditional
Positive interdependence No interdependence
Individual accountability No individual accountability
Heterogeneous groups Homogeneous groups
Shared leadership One leader
Shared responsibility for each other Responsibility to self only
4
Differences (cont.)

• Task and group behavior emphasized Only task is
  emphasized
• Social skills directly taught Social skills
  assumed
• Group processing on teamwork No group processing

5
ELEMENTS OF COOPERATIVELY STRUCTURED LEARNING

• ? Group heterogeneity
• ? Positive group interdependence
• ? Individual accountability
• ? Leadership skills
• ? Group processing

6
SOME BENEFITS OF COOPERATIVELY STRUCTURED
LEARNINGTHE RESEARCH

• ? Facilitates higher achievement, particularly
  among students in the lower 50th percentile.
• ? Increases student perspective-taking
• ? Can foster better attitude toward school
• ? Increases retention at school
• ? Increases intrinsic motivation
• ? Can foster more positive heterogeneous
  relationships
• ? Can foster more language development
• ? Increases self-esteem
• ? Encourages greater collaboration
• ? Fosters more on-task behavior (if done
  correctly!)
• ? Encourages more positive psychological
  adjustment
• ? Provides more social support

7
CONTINUUM OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• May be
• Simple to Complex
• May feature
• Cooperation to Appropriate competition
• May use
• Pairs Triad Quartets
• May last
• 1 class session Up to six weeks
• May require
• Few social skills Many social skills