Cooperative Learning                                                                               Prof. Deepak Sharma

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. 

Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:

·         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!).

Why use Cooperative Learning?
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

5 Elements of Cooperative Learning

It is only under certain conditions that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than competitive and individualistic efforts. Those conditions are:

1. Positive Interdependence  
(sink or swim together)

• 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
(promote each other's success)

• 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
( no hitchhiking! no social loafing)

• 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.
• 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.
• Observing each group and recording the frequency with which each member-contributes to the group's work.
• 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.
• Having students teach what they learned to someone else.

4. Interpersonal & Small-Group Skills

• Social skills must be taught:
• Leadership
• Decision-making
• Trust-building
• Communication
• Conflict-management skills

5. Group Processing

• Group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships
• Describe what member actions are helpful and not helpful
• Make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change