Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning Better learning through teamwork Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Cooperative Learning • What is cooperative learning? • Benefits • What makes a group “cooperative”? • Three types of cooperative learning groups • Concerns • References Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

What is it? • Cooperative learning is working actively • in small groups • to maximize learning • toward a common goal Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Benefits of Cooperative Learning • Cooperative learning has been studied exhaustively over the last 90 years • More is known about cooperative learning than nearly any other aspect of education • Cooperative learning results in improved: • Learning • Understanding • Recall • Self-esteem Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Benefits of Cooperative Learning • Positive peer relationships are essential to success in college • Cooperation among students results in: • Higher achievement • Greater productivity • Improved relationships • Better emotional health Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Benefits of Cooperative Learning • Cooperative learning can revitalize students and faculty • Working together allows students to: • Learn more • Enjoy learning • Develop skills • Especially important because real world work is group work Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

What are the requirements? • Cooperative learning requires • Positive interdependence • Individual accountability • Face-to-face interaction • Teamwork skills • Group processing Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Positive Interdependence • Individual success depends on the team’s success • Require consensus • Assign roles • Share resources • Individual reward based on team’s success Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Individual Accountability • Individual accountability reinforces positive interdependence • Evaluate performance individually and collectively • Peer evaluation Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Face-to-face Interaction • Cooperative learning requires face-to-face interaction • Interaction can be structured • Provide sufficient time for interaction Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Teamwork Skills • Students often lack teamwork skills • Identify relevant social skills • Active listening • Expression of differences • Teamwork taught like course material • Monitor and assess Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Group Processing • Group processing needed to keep a team functioning smoothly • Regularly review performance • Explain purpose and relationship to social skills Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Cooperative Learning Groups • Three types of cooperative learning groups • Informal groups • Formal groups • Base groups Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Informal Groups • Temporary groups of short duration • No more than one class period • Focus attention on material to be learned • Particularly useful when attention begins to lapse Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Formal Groups • Centered around a single task • Size, duration, and composition is task dependent • Team activities emphasize: • Discussion, Application, and Mastery • Students work to accomplish shared goals • Formal evaluation Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Base Groups • Long term cooperative learning groups that provide support for student development • Not focused on a particular task • Duration of one or more terms • Teams should be heterogeneous • Instituted by course, college, or department Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Concerns • Spending all this time on group exercises will prevent me from getting through the syllabus. • Effective group work requires little in-class time • Pose questions to small groups • Successful teaching is more than covering the syllabus. What matters is how much was actually learned. • Handouts can supplement lectures Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Concerns • Without lecture I will lose control of the class • That is one point of view • On the other hand…several times during class students may become actively immersed in the material you’re trying to get them to learn Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Concerns • What if students resent the approach? • Prepare students for it from the beginning • Explain why you are doing it • Better grades • Teaching to others aids understanding • Professional training Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Concerns • What about students who want to get credit without actively participating in the work? • Always a danger • Include provisions to ensure individual accountability • Call randomly on individuals • Peer evaluations Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

References • www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Papers/Coopreport.html • Cooperative Learning: Making “Groupwork” Work, Karl A. Smith in Using active learning in college classes: A range of options for faculty. Tracey E. Sutherland & Charles C. Bonwell (eds.) New Directions for Teaching and Learning 67, Jossey-Bass,San Francisco. • www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Papers/Resist.html • Felder, Richard M., Brent, Rebecca, Effective Strategies for Cooperative Learning, J. Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10(2), 69-75, 2001. Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

References • teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html • home.capecod.net/~tpanitz/ebook/Quotes.html • www.ku.edu/~cte/resources/teachingtips/cooperative.html • scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/jte-v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html • www.edletter.org/past/issues/2000-mj/models.shtml • www.ntlf.com/html/lbi/bib/92-2dig.htm • clte.asu.edu/active/mainde.htm Gateway Engineering Education Coalition

Cooperative Learning