Cooperative+Grouping

by Katie Goehring **__What is Cooperative Learning? __**
 * Cooperative Learning **

Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:
 * Cooperative learning ** is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
 * gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.)
 * recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.)
 * know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.)
 * feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!).



Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques
 * promote student learning and academic achievement
 * increase student retention
 * enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience
 * help students develop skills in oral communication
 * develop students' social skills
 * promote student self-esteem
 * help to promote positive race relations

**__What makes Cooperative Groups work? __** **1. Positive Interdependence **
 * Each group member's efforts are required and indispensable for group success
 * Each group member has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort because of his or her resources and/or role and task responsibilities

**2. Face-to-Face Interaction **
 * Orally explaining how to solve problems
 * Teaching one's knowledge to other
 * Checking for understanding
 * Discussing concepts being learned
 * Connecting present with past learning

**3. Individual & Group Accountability **
 * Keeping the size of the group small. The smaller the size of the group, the greater the individual accountability may be.
 * Giving an individual test to each student.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Randomly examining students orally by calling on one student to present his or her group's work to the teacher (in the presence of the group) or to the entire class.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Observing each group and recording the frequency with which each member-contributes to the group's work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Assigning one student in each group the role of checker. The checker asks other group members to explain the reasoning and rationale underlying group answers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Having students teach what they learned to someone else.

**<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">4. Interpersonal & Small-Group Skills **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Social skills must be taught:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Leadership
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Decision-making
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Trust-building
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Communication
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Conflict-management skills

**<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">5. Group Processing **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Describe what member actions are helpful and not helpful
 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 153%;">__<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Class Activities Using Cooperative Learning** __
 * 1) Jigsaw
 * 2) Think-Pair-Share
 * 3) Three-Step Interview
 * 4) Round Robin Brainstorming
 * 5) Three-minute Review
 * 6) Numbered Heads Together
 * 7) Team Pair Solo
 * 8) Circle the Sage
 * 9) Partners

Information borrowed from: []



Click to view a demonstration of this SDAIE strategy:

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