Finally, they are invested members of the team because they know they hold one critical part of the whole. When teachers structure cooperative learning groups as part of the overall reading program, they also open the door to a multiple intelligences approach to literacy, which is inherent in cooperative learning. This article offers guidance on Literature Circles and Cooperative Tear, two cooperative learning strategies supported by research.
Introduction Cooperative learning is rated by Joyce as the number-one strategy to increase student achievement and to enhance self-esteem. One student leads the discussion with predetermined questions. Another shares a favorite passage, while still another might quiz members on selected vocabulary. This team effort builds a sense of trust and safety and a sense of belonging, while at the same time, building a strong understanding of what critical reading is all about. It makes reading active, interactive, and engaging for all members.
Literature Circles Cooperative learning strategies that incorporate roles and responsibilities and involve choice within a given structure are highly effective for literacy instruction.
To use literature circles, follow these simple steps: 1. Here are some roles that teachers might assign: Discussion Leader : creates Socratic questions for discussion Wordsmith : defines significant vocabulary Literary Luminary : illuminates the literary sections by reading aloud Character Actor : role-plays characters, actions.
Cooperative Tear Share A surefire cooperative strategy to try with younger and older readers is the cooperative tear share. Simultaneous interaction is provided, since every student in the class is active at the same time- either in solving the problem or coaching.
Using Rally Coach, low-achievers get the help they need when doing the exercise and learn from high-achievers when coaching. If you want to learn how to implement these and more cooperative learning strategies, discover our self-paced online course:. Kagan — M. Kagan, Ebd. Therefore, in my opinion, classroom management becomes much more attainable.
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This modification of the think-pair-share involves personal responses devices e. The question posted is typically a conceptually based multiple-choice question.
Students think about their answer and vote on a response before turning to a neighbor to discuss. This approach is particularly well-adapted for large classes. The class then rearranges, forming new groups that have one member from each expert team. The members of the new team then take turns teaching each other the material on which they are experts. In formal cooperative learning students work together for one or more class periods to complete a joint task or assignment Johnson et al.
There are several features that can help these groups work well:. There are many more specific types of group work that fall under the general descriptions given here, including team-based learning , problem-based learning , and process-oriented guided inquiry learning. The use of cooperative learning groups in instruction is based on the principle of constructivism, with particular attention to the contribution that social interaction can make.
In essence, constructivism rests on the idea that individuals learn through building their own knowledge, connecting new ideas and experiences to existing knowledge and experiences to form new or enhanced understanding Bransford, et al. Lev Vygotsky extended this work by examining the relationship between cognitive processes and social activities, developing the sociocultural theory of development.
The sociocultural theory of development suggests that learning takes place when students solve problems beyond their current developmental level with the support of their instructor or their peers. Thus both the idea of a zone of proximal development, supported by positive group interdependence, is the basis of cooperative learning Davidson and Major, ; Johnson, et al.
Cooperative learning follows this idea as groups work together to learn or solve a problem, with each individual responsible for understanding all aspects. The small groups are essential to this process because students are able to both be heard and to hear their peers, while in a traditional classroom setting students may spend more time listening to what the instructor says.
Cooperative learning uses both goal interdependence and resource interdependence to ensure interaction and communication among group members. Changing the role of the instructor from lecturing to facilitating the groups helps foster this social environment for students to learn through interaction. David Johnson, Roger Johnson, and Karl Smith performed a meta-analysis of studies comparing cooperative learning to competitive learning and individualistic learning in college students Johnson et al.
They found that cooperative learning produced greater academic achievement than both competitive learning and individualistic learning across the studies, exhibiting a mean weighted effect size of 0. In essence, these results indicate that cooperative learning increases student academic performance by approximately one-half of a standard deviation when compared to non-cooperative learning models, an effect that is considered moderate. Importantly, the academic achievement measures were defined in each study, and ranged from lower-level cognitive tasks e.
The meta-analysis also showed substantial effects on other metrics, including self-esteem and positive attitudes about learning. George Kuh and colleagues also conclude that cooperative group learning promotes student engagement and academic performance Kuh et al. Springer, Stanne, and Donovan confirmed these results in their meta-analysis of 39 studies in university STEM classrooms. They found that students who participated in various types of small-group learning, ranging from extended formal interactions to brief informal interactions, had greater academic achievement, exhibited more favorable attitudes towards learning, and had increased persistence through STEM courses than students who did not participate in STEM small-group learning.
The box below summarizes three individual studies examining the effects of cooperative learning groups. Articulate your goals for the group work, including both the academic objectives you want the students to achieve and the social skills you want them to develop. Choose an assessment method that will promote positive group interdependence as well as individual accountability. Explain how the task involves both positive interdependence and individual accountability, and how you will be assessing each.
Assign group roles or give groups prompts to help them articulate effective ways for interaction. The University of New South Wales provides a valuable set of tools to help groups establish good practices when first meeting.
Group processing : Group members analyze their own and the group's ability to work together. Cooperative learning changes students' and teachers' roles in classrooms. The ownership of teaching and learning is shared by groups of students, and is no longer the sole responsibility of the teacher. The authority of setting goals, assessing learning , and facilitating learning is shared by all.
Students have more opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and discuss their ideas, and internalize their learning. Along with improving academic learning, cooperative learning helps students engage in thoughtful discourse and examine different perspectives, and it has been proven to increase students' self-esteem , motivation , and empathy. Some challenges of using cooperative learning include releasing the control of learning, managing noise levels, resolving conflicts , and assessing student learning.
Carefully structured activities can help students learn the skills to work together successfully, and structured discussion and reflection on group process can help avoid some problems. The authors of Classroom Instruction that Works cite research showing that organizing students in cooperative learning groups can lead to a gain as high as 28 percentiles in measured student achievement Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock
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