Cooperative Learning Strategies for Establishing an Effective In-Class Community: Five Components
1. Positive Interdependence
The most essential element of cooperative learning is positive interdependence. Students must believe that they are linked with others so that they cannot succeed unless the other members of the group succeed (and vice versa). Structuring positive interdependence involves three steps:
The most essential element of cooperative learning is positive interdependence. Students must believe that they are linked with others so that they cannot succeed unless the other members of the group succeed (and vice versa). Structuring positive interdependence involves three steps:
Step One: Assign each group a clear, measurable task
This is easy to do when the learning contexts are meaningful. Group projects involving creation, simulation, situation exploration, games etc. generally have very measurable and well-defined tasks. Step Two: Structure positive goal interdependence This is simply a matter of informing the members of cooperative groups that the entire group must collectively meet a specified level of performance before the “goal” is considered accomplished. This can be structured by informing members of the group that they are responsible for ensuring that all members score above a certain level on an assessment, all members must improve their level of performance on an assessment, the average score of all group member performance on an assessment is above a specified level, or one product or project will be assessed on behalf of the entire group. Step Three: Structure supporting positive interdependence There are a number of different ways to encourage positive interdependence among cooperative group members. Here are brief descriptions of some of the supporting positive interdependence strategies that might be used: |
Celebration/reward interdependence. A joint reward is given for successful group work and members’ efforts to succeed.
Resource interdependence. Each group member has only a portion of the information, resources, or materials needed for the group to accomplish its task. All resources must be combined in order to accomplish all assigned tasks. When computer resources are limited, access to the Internet and other electronic resources can be allocated to individual group members. “Jigsaw” is a concept used to describe resource interdependence, as well as strategies for helping all group members learn and then teach specific skills to each other. The best explanation of jigsawing can be view at Elliot Aronson’s website: http://www.jigsaw.org Identity interdependence. The group establishes an identity for itself through a name, flag, motto, web page etc. Role interdependence. Each member is assigned complementary and interconnected roles that specify responsibilities needed to be assumed in order for the group to reach its goal. The types of roles assigned depend on the task as well as the developmental level of the students. General examples of different roles include reader, recorder, keyboarder, checker of understanding, encourager of participation, task manager, project manager, runner (can leave group to obtain resources), key master (can access “answers” or hints), consensus seeker, summarizer, and presenter. Environmental interdependence. Group members are bound together by the physical environment in some way. Sending a cooperative group to the computer lab is an example of environmental interdependence. Simulation interdependence. Group members are given a specific “character” within a simulation task, and they must do all they can to survive and thrive in order for the group to succeed within the simulation. Computer-based simulations often enable multiple characters or elements to be developed, making it easy to assign individual roles within the simulation itself. Task interdependence. A division of labor is created so that the actions of one group member must be completed before other group members can complete their tasks. Many opportunities for this type of interdependence can occur when students are engaged in computer-based creation contexts, since sharing limited computer resources is often a challenge. Game interdependence. Cooperative groups are placed in competition with each other. Individual group members then feel interdependent as they strive to beat the other groups and win the competition. |
2. Individual Accountability/Personal Responsibility
The purpose of cooperative learning is to help learners learn how to work constructively in group situations AND to facilitate the individual learning of specified outcomes. To ensure that each member learns, students are held individually accountable. Common ways to structure individual accountability include:
The purpose of cooperative learning is to help learners learn how to work constructively in group situations AND to facilitate the individual learning of specified outcomes. To ensure that each member learns, students are held individually accountable. Common ways to structure individual accountability include:
Group size. The smaller the group, the greater the individual accountability. 2-4 students usually work best.
Tests. Administer individual quizzes/test. Presentation pressure. Randomly select individual students to summarize their group’s work to the entire class. Teacher Observations and Feedback. The teacher observes groups in action, recording instances of participation…or lack of. Computer spreadsheets are very useful in keeping track of observations. Checker. One student in each group is assigned the role of checker. The checker asks other group members to explain their reasoning, articulate their understanding, ask questions about things they don’t understand, and communicate their level of comfort with the group’s progress. Teaching. Assign individuals who can successfully perform specified tasks the job of teaching other individuals or groups their skills. This is a VERY useful strategy for helping individuals and groups accomplish specific computer-related tasks. |
3. Face-to-Face, Supportive Interaction
Group processing and positive interdependence cannot take place without learner-to-learner interactions. This is best accomplished through the simple act of making sure group members have opportunities to be “knee-to-knee & eye-to-eye.” This can occur by creating seating assignments and room arrangements that promote interactivity, scheduling group meeting times, clearly communicating to each group the positive interdependence strategies used, and providing constant feedback regarding the positive nature of group member interaction.
Computers can play a part in promoting group member interactivity by acting as a meeting place for groups (one computer per group often forces all members to arrange themselves around a central resource). Computers can also be use to promote interactivity that may not be face-to-face, but can be intimate nonetheless. The use of e-mail and chat environments can help group members interact with each other from their individual homes.
Group processing and positive interdependence cannot take place without learner-to-learner interactions. This is best accomplished through the simple act of making sure group members have opportunities to be “knee-to-knee & eye-to-eye.” This can occur by creating seating assignments and room arrangements that promote interactivity, scheduling group meeting times, clearly communicating to each group the positive interdependence strategies used, and providing constant feedback regarding the positive nature of group member interaction.
Computers can play a part in promoting group member interactivity by acting as a meeting place for groups (one computer per group often forces all members to arrange themselves around a central resource). Computers can also be use to promote interactivity that may not be face-to-face, but can be intimate nonetheless. The use of e-mail and chat environments can help group members interact with each other from their individual homes.
4. Interpersonal and Small Group Skills
Contributing to the success of cooperative efforts requires teamwork skills. Students must learn and apply skills in leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management to be a constructive collaborator within a cooperative learning team. Whenever cooperative learning is implemented within a K-12 classroom, collaboration skills need to be facilitated as purposefully and precisely as academic skills. It is important for teachers as instructional designers to identify collaboration skills needed to succeed within the structured learning environment, and then design instructional strategies to facilitate these skills. A listing of possible skills to be included within an instructional plan follows.
Contributing to the success of cooperative efforts requires teamwork skills. Students must learn and apply skills in leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management to be a constructive collaborator within a cooperative learning team. Whenever cooperative learning is implemented within a K-12 classroom, collaboration skills need to be facilitated as purposefully and precisely as academic skills. It is important for teachers as instructional designers to identify collaboration skills needed to succeed within the structured learning environment, and then design instructional strategies to facilitate these skills. A listing of possible skills to be included within an instructional plan follows.
5. Group Processing
Teachers need to ensure that members of each cooperative learning group discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships. Group members need to describe how each other's actions are helpful hand harmful and make decisions about what to continue or change. Such processing enables groups to focus on group maintenance, facilitates the learning of collaborative skills, ensures that members receive feedback on their participation, and reminds students to practice collaborative skills consistently. Some of the keys to successful processing are allowing sufficient time for it to take place, making it specific rather than vague, maintaining student involvement in processing, reminding students to use their teamwork skills during processing, and ensuring that students are clear about the process that has been communicated.
In order to ensure that group processing occurs regularly, teachers should incorporate it into the instructional design. Self-reflection is an important part of any lesson review, and encouraging learners to reflect on their abilities to collaborate constructively can be easily accomplished by asking them questions related to how well they feel they performed the skills indicated above. Perhaps the most effective way to group process is to have the teacher record information about individual group member behavior during the lesson, and then meet with the group (or class) to review the observations. This is where the use of computer-based technology can help teachers manage cooperative learning. On the low-tech end, a spreadsheet could be created to track instances of constructive (and destructive) collaboration personal interaction and small group behavior during a cooperative lesson, and feedback could be provided based on any patterns of acceptable and unacceptable behavior identified. And a word-processing program could be used to create an observation sheet for recording collaboration behavior of a single cooperative group over a period of time.
On the more high-tech end, a tool such as ClassDojo can be used to easily identify and record group member behavior.
Teachers need to ensure that members of each cooperative learning group discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships. Group members need to describe how each other's actions are helpful hand harmful and make decisions about what to continue or change. Such processing enables groups to focus on group maintenance, facilitates the learning of collaborative skills, ensures that members receive feedback on their participation, and reminds students to practice collaborative skills consistently. Some of the keys to successful processing are allowing sufficient time for it to take place, making it specific rather than vague, maintaining student involvement in processing, reminding students to use their teamwork skills during processing, and ensuring that students are clear about the process that has been communicated.
In order to ensure that group processing occurs regularly, teachers should incorporate it into the instructional design. Self-reflection is an important part of any lesson review, and encouraging learners to reflect on their abilities to collaborate constructively can be easily accomplished by asking them questions related to how well they feel they performed the skills indicated above. Perhaps the most effective way to group process is to have the teacher record information about individual group member behavior during the lesson, and then meet with the group (or class) to review the observations. This is where the use of computer-based technology can help teachers manage cooperative learning. On the low-tech end, a spreadsheet could be created to track instances of constructive (and destructive) collaboration personal interaction and small group behavior during a cooperative lesson, and feedback could be provided based on any patterns of acceptable and unacceptable behavior identified. And a word-processing program could be used to create an observation sheet for recording collaboration behavior of a single cooperative group over a period of time.
On the more high-tech end, a tool such as ClassDojo can be used to easily identify and record group member behavior.