Cooperative Learning

Some of you mentioned that you'd like some ideas or tips for cooperative learning. As an eMINTS Instructional Specialist, I train teachers in using cooperative learning activities as well as use some of the strategies and elements in my own facilitation. From this work and my own experience, I've put together this blog post.

Elements of Cooperative Learning
Depending on who you ask, cooperative learning has four or five elements that should be present every time. Otherwise, it's just group work. I'm focusing on the four elements as pointed out by Kagan.

• Positive Interdependence - "All for one, one for all" sort of describes positive interdependence. This is the idea that if I succeed, you will also succeed. The challenge is in designing lessons or utilizing structures that make this happen. To me, this is the most important aspect of cooperative learning. PI can be supported through team building, common group goals, shared resources, specific roles, and group rewards.
  
• Individual Accountability - Each student is responsible for contributing to the task. That means that each member of a group should have his/her unique portion of a task, not everyone doing the exact same thing. This can be accomplished through assigning individual roles or dividing the content among group members.
• Equal Participation - Each member of a group has equal participation time. This has to be a requirement or expectation built into an activity. Don't let that wallflower sit to the side while others dominate the work.
• Simultaneous Interaction - All students should be visibly engaged at the same time.Faco Reduce the down time and give every group member a specific role to be worked on simultaneously. This will cause your classroom to be noisier than usual, but it's worth it.

Time to Reflect
Although not specified by Kagan, many cooperative learning advocates feel it is imperitive for these strategies to incorporate some sort of group processing. This is a good teaching practice overall. You've got to develop that meta cognition.

Reasons NOT to Use Cooperative Learning
Many teachers have many excuses for not using cooperative learning. However, for every excuse, there is a reasonable response.

• Real World Competition - Teachers feel that students should be able to complete tasks on their own in order to prepare for the real world. While this is partially true, it should also be noted that most jobs require people to work together in collaboration.
• Difficult to Manage - Many feel that it is difficult to manage a noisy room of simultaneous activity. I'd argue that it's not anymore difficult than doing quiet, whole-class, teacher-centered teaching. There are just different strategies that need to be practiced and employed.
• Cooperative Learning Is Overdone - Cooperative groups are not necessary for every assignment. When they are, it rarely feels rewarding. Plus, instructors often leave out any development of collaborative skills. So, teachers avoid cooperative learning all together. The truth is that your students need a variety of approaches and perspectives, cooperative learning being one of them.
• Mediocrity Rules - Teachers are often concerned that their higher-achieving students can be dragged down by cooperative groups. However, the best way to learn content and processes is often to teach it to others. Also, cooperative groups allow these students to learn and develop other skills such as leadership and collaboration. Every student can benefit from that.

Factors to Consider
When using cooperative groups, there are several factors to consider. It's not just about putting students into groups and letting them go.

• Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Grouping - Do you want all the students in a group to be alike in some way or do you want to mix abilities and perspectives?
• Size - Typically, groups of two, three, or four work best.
• Grouping Method - Depending on the task, there can be times for random grouping, but purposefully grouping students can meet very specific goals.
• Student Preferences - In order to avoid conflict or time off task, considering student preferences can really help. Don't always pair the Hatfields and McCoys or BFF's for the best results.
• Strengths and Needs - Find skills that compliment or fill in holes with your student groups.

Social Skills
Students do not always know how to cooperate or interact with their peers. We have to teach social skills. For cooperative learning to work, students must know how to treat each other in a proper manner. The time that is saved by not having to put out "fires" is worth the time spent teaching students how to interact.

Cooperative Learning Structures
Below are a few websites with structures that have the elements and ideas I've shared in this post. Also, I've included a link to my Delicious bookmarks for cooperative learning to fill in any gaps.

• Cooperative Learning Structures - This site divides the structures into two categories: Basic and Advanced. For those who are just trying out cooperative learning or aren't sure of its benefits, try the basic structures. The advanced structures are not difficult. They just require more of a commitment.
• Kagan Cooperative Learning - This resource is a collection of Kagan strategies that include a description of the strategy, steps, and tips for implementation.
• My Delicious Bookmarks - These are bookmarks of resources that support cooperative learning in the classroom.