Cooperative Learning

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Cooperative Learning

• Why, What, and How

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3 Types of Learning
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Cooperative Learning Conditions

• 1. Positive interdependence
• 2. Considerate interaction
• 3. Individual accountability and personal
  responsibility to achieve group goal.
• 4. Interpersonal and small-group skills.
• 5. Group processing to improve future
  effectiveness.

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Positive Interdependence

• 1. Learn the assigned material
• 2. Ensure that all members of group learn the
  assigned material

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How do you structure learning for positive
interdependence?

• 1. Positive Goal Interdependence
• All have same goal
• 2. Positive Reward
• Reward group achievement
• 3. Positive Resource Interdependence
• Share resources, info, materials
• 4. Positive Role Interdependence
• Assign roles
• 5. Group identity

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How do you promote interaction?

• 1. If you have created positive interdependence,
  you will automatically promote interaction.
• 2. Eye to eye, knee to knee

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How do you assure individual accountability and
personal responsibility?

• 1. Assess each members effort in contributing to
  the groups work
• 2. Provide feedback to groups and individuals
• 3. Help groups avoid redundancy
• 4. Ensure all are responsible for final outcome

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Ways to structure individual accountability

• Keep group size small.
• Give an individual test to each student.
• Randomly call on students orally by calling on
  one to present groups work.
• Observe each group and record frequency of each
  members contribution.
• Assign each person a role, especially a checker.

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How do you promote social and small-group skills?

• Know trust each other
• Communicate accurately and uninhibited
• Accept and support each other
• Resolve conflict constructively

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How do you structure group processing?

• Describe what member actions were helpful and
  unhelpful
• Make decisions about what actions to continue and
  change
• Celebrate success

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Types of Group Processing

• Small Group
• Focus on maintaining good working relationships
• Facilitates the learning of cooperative skills
• Ensures members receive feedback on their
  participation

• Entire Class
• Teacher observes all groups and makes
  observations about how they are functioning

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• Cooperative Learning Techniques

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• Dealing with Different
• Types of Students

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The Dominant Student

• Assign the dominant student a role that is less
  obtrusive
• Rotate the position of leader
• Have each student present material to group
  before others may comment

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The Slow Student

• Use jigsaw configuration
• Monitor expert groups carefully so that correct
  information is being supplied

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The Bright, Bored Student

• Use differentiated instruction
• All learn same basic material
• Groups are then formed to complete another
  project
• Let sharp kids soar
• Let slower students continue to learn basic
  information

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Some Final Pointers

• Identify clear questions at onset
• Resolve small-group conflicts as soon as they
  arise
• Create rubrics to be used for guiding the
  learning process and for assessing final work
• Provide ongoing help for students to reflect on
  their progress

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Activity

• Each group will receive a cooperative learning
  technique. Discuss with your group how you
  would implement the technique by using a specific
  example.
• You have 5 minutes!

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• What children can do together today, they can do
  alone tomorrow.
• Vygotsky, 1962