cooperative learning : an inroduction

Dr. Lalit Kishore

Cooperative Learning: What?Students working in small groups to help one

another to accomplish a learning task Students exercise peer learning in a sharing

and caring environmentLearning collaboratively as teamCooperation and sharing taken as the key

values in social learning environment.

Assumptions of Cooperative Learning

Cooperation in learning is both socially and intellectual stimulating

The central societal role of education is to prepare individuals who would strengthen the democratic social order in institutions and society through collective and participatory processes to learn and make decisions to be owned up by them.

RATIONALE FOR COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Overcoming Problem of Present Education•  Social theorists and many educators

question the adequacy of the current dominant pattern of education emphasizing the following- Competition- External motivation ( reward and punishment )- Individual performance and selfish attitude/ rivalry- Memorization- Interaction mode of lecturing and recitation

Countering lecture model• The dominant recitation model of

teaching (lecturing followed by questions for individuals to respond followed by affirmation of responses as correct or incorrect followed by rewarding the good performers and stigmatizing the bad performers ).

• The lecturing model with emphasis on competition is bad for the society.

ESSENTIALS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING Value of Cooperation• Cooperation provides a solid sociological foundation

to education• John Dewey has criticized competition in educational

institutions and advocated strongly their restructuring as democratic learning communities and prove the worth of cooperation in education.

• Social interaction is a pre-requisite to learning because higher mental functions such as reasoning, comprehension and critical reflection originate and develop in group situation and then internalized individually

Characteristics of Cooperative Learning Situation

Group size: Small i.e., 5 to 7 membersGroup composition: HeterogeneousTasks: Exploratory and revisionTeacher's roles: Providers of experience

and basic information after exploratory task, facilitator for detailing in group work, model as a senior co-learner and guide

Five essential ingredients of effective cooperative learning• Group learning with face-to-face interaction• Positive interdependence ( Giving and receiving

explanations, collective reasoning and consensus building)

• Opportunities for building collaborative skills: Sharing; team work; collective responsibility

• Group processing ( Review of inter-relationship and process purity )

• Individual accountability coupled with the group accountability by stressing group achievement

Benefits of CL Improved self-efficacy for performing a taskStrategic thinking by studentsPerspective takingRecognition of inadequacies and immediate

positive feedbackValues of caring and sharing 

Group Formation GuidelinesHeterogonous grouping with 5 to 7 membersPeriodic rotation of members of the groupsGroup rules: (i) Listening with intent ; (ii) No

ridiculing of ideas ; (iii) Taking turns in giving views ; (iv) No dominance of a few ; (v) Giving encouragement to others; (vi) Offering assistance to others

Monitoring of Groups by the FacilitatorBe guided by the following questions:• Are students working towards a common

goal?• Are they actively participating?• Are they listening to one another's

perspectives?• Are they asking one another questions when

they don't understand?• Are they criticizing and reviewing ideas

rather than the individuals?

Assigned roles of group membersFollowing group roles are rotated

Leader RecorderEquipment/material managerEvaluator

Capacity building of students in social skills for effective interactionShowing courtesyInitiating conversationHelp-giving and help-seeking redinessSharing Showing empathyUnderstanding roles and performing them in

turn

Students’ role tasks• Encourager and material manager ( Making

reluctant and shy students participate, providing material )

• Cheer leader (Appreciating and recognizing contributions and achievements)

• Gate keeper (Equalizing participation, removing dominance)

• Coach (Helping in academic content, explaining concepts)

• Question commander (Making members to ask and answer questions)

• Recorder and reflector (Writing process, ideas, plans, progress, feedback )

Teacher's Roles in Cooperative Learning• Training students in role performance and giving

feedback on it • Explaining the learning task and its objectives• Forming groups • Teaching through outlines• Preparing self learning material• Preparing and administrating the pre-tests and post

tests• Coordinating the group presentations• Providing the closer to the lesson through feedback and

a summary• Working as a trusting consultant and facilitator in group

learning• Providing revision and practice worksheets to internalize

the subject matter 

Main Group Learning Techniques• Brain storming• Syndicate groups and committees • Buzz session• Focus or controlled group discussion• Group seminar (short talks by members

followed by a discussion)• In-group symposium - with at least 7

members ( 2 members as speakers on different allocated aspects of a topic, followed by question-answer session or discussion on selected learning points)

• Forum (Two speakers with opposite views followed by questions-answers) 

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-1 STAD: Student Teams Attainment Divisions 1. Presentation by the teacher (Emphasis on

'know-how') with study and practice questions2. Group work by students3. Group mastery tests4. Peer-coaching based on the feedback from the

test5. Corrective teaching for content and processes

by the teacher 

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-2TGT: Teams - Games - Tournament 1-3.Steps are the same as that of STAD4. Group tournaments based on quizzes5. Group coaching6. Group re-tournaments with new quizzes

till the scores are almost equal.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-3COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-3Jigsaw 1. Review of learning segment or lesson by the

teacher2. Groups work as expert teams on various

different parts of the lessons.3. Presentations by groups4. Group coaching on the whole lesson5. Group performance tests6. Assessment of tests and selective re-teaching 

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-4RQ: Reciprocal Questioning 1.Lesson presentation by the teacher2.Multiple choice question formation skill training to

students3.Students work in triads to make questions with keys to

be answered by others4.Groups ask questions in a reciprocal way by head-count

answering 5.The group members can consult one another for the

answer.6.Recap by the teacher 

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-5FMR: Five-Minute Review1. Teacher teaches for 15 minutes2. Forms groups and asks each group to

review what has been taught3. Groups present the review 4. Groups ask one another clarifying

questions

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES-6TPS: Teams - Pairs - Solo 1. Presentation by the teacher and

assigning the problems2. Doing the problems in groups3. Revising in pairs4. Revising individually.