D E F I N I T I O N S A N D E L E M E N T S

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• Cooperative learning is structuring positive interdependence

• Students work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals

• They take advantage of one another’s resources and skills

• The teacher’s role changes from giving information to facilitating student’s learning.

• Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds• Tasks should be intellectually demanding, creative,

open-ended and involve higher order thinking skills.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• Cooperative learning is different to collaborative learning.

COOPERATIVE VS COLLABORATIVE

Cooperative learning Collaborative learning

• Different levels of ability

• Use variety of learning activities to improve understanding of a subject

• Each is responsible for learning but also helping team mates learn

• Each person is responsible for a portion of the work

• Wikispaces

• Learning is a naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves

• It is through the talk that learning occurs

• Participants work together to solve a problem

• Sharing experiences with each other

• Plus+ program!

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• Brown and Ciuffetelli Parker (2009) and Siltala (2010) show that there are 5 basic essential elements to cooperative learning:• 1. Positive interdependence• Students must fully participate and put in effort within

their group.• Each group member has a task/role/responsibility – they

must believe that they are responsible for their learning and that of their group.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

2. Face-to-face promotive interaction• Members promote each other’s success• Students explain to each other what they have or are

learning and assist each other with understanding and completion of assignments

3. Individual and Group accountability• Each student must demonstrate mastery of the content

being studied• Each student is accountable for their learning and work

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• 4. Social skills• Social skills need to be taught in order for successful

cooperative learning.• Skills include effective cooperation, interpersonal and

group skills.• Leadership• Decision-making• Trust-building• Communication• Conflict-management skills

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

• 5. Group Processing• Every so often groups must assess their effectiveness

and decide how it can be improved.

SUMMARY

• Cooperative learning must have students moving towards a group goal and success must be reliant on each individual’s learning.• Students must know exactly what their

responsibilities are and that they are accountable to the group. Each member must have a task that they are responsible for which cannot be completed by any other group member.

WHAT DOES COOPERATIVE LEARNING LOOK LIKE IN THE CLASSROOM?

REFERENCES