Cooperative Learning

Conceptual Approach

What Makes Teaching “GO”

Knowledge

of Content

Instructional

Strategies Instructional

skills

Classroom

Management Skills

politeness

humor

concern

consideration

enthusiasm

caring

Enthusiasm – a strong feeling of interest and enjoyment about something and eagerness to be involved in it.

Learning Together • Students work in small groups to complete a single worksheet or task for which the group receives praise and recognition.

• The Learning Together approach emphasizes on training students to be good group members and continuous evaluation of group functioning by group members.

When CL is implemented effectively we can expect…………..

• Higher self-esteem• Higher achievement• Increase retention ( memory)• Greater social support• More on task behavior• Greater collaborative

skills• Greater Intrinsic

Motivation

• Better attitudes toward school

• Better attitudes toward teachers

• Greater use of Higher Level Reasoning

• More positive psychological adjustment

Elements of Cooperative Learning

• Positive Interdependence

• Individual Accountability

• Face to face Interaction

• Social Skills

• Group Processing

Learning Environment- Students Interaction

• Competitive Situation – me instead of you

– “I swim you sink, you sink, I swim

• Individualistic Situation- me alone

– “We are each in this alone”

• Cooperative Situation- we as well as me

– “We sink and swim together”

What Makes Teaching “GO”• Organising students Interaction• Basic elements of CL• Role of teachers• Strengthening Positive Interdependence• Promoting Individual Accountability• Teaching Social Skills• Evaluating Social and Academic Learning• CL structure

POSITIVE INTERDEPENDENCE

• Mutual ( same ) Goal

• Join Reward

• Share Resources

• Assign Roles

Individual Accountability

• Student’s performance is frequently assessed.

(Will I be called on to answer for my group)

Face-to-face Interaction

• Cooperative Environment

(helping, sharing, encouraging)

Social Skills

• Collaborative Skill:

Leadership, decision making, trust building, communicating, conflict management skills.

Group Processing

• Discuss how well they are achieving their goals.

Procedure of teaching “Learning Together” cooperative learning :

18 steps

What are the steps…?1. Specify instructional objective

2. Limit Group size

3. Group heterogeneity ( multi )

4. Arrange group in circle

5. Use instructional material to promote interdependence

6. Arrange role to ensure interdependence

7. Explain academic task

8. Structure positive goal interdependence

9. Structure individual accountability

10. Structure intergroup cooperation

11. Explain criteria for success12. Specify desired behaviours13. Monitor students’ behaviour

continually for problems14. Provide task assistance15. Intervene ( to deal with the

probs) to teach collaborative skills

16. Provide closure to the lesson with summaries by students

17. Evaluate students work18. Assess group function

through ongoing observation

Some commonly found problems in CL groups

• No participation• Not everyone accept other’s idea,• Sometimes it is difficult to listen to everybody in

the group,• No one compliments,• Group members might show rudeness,talk

loudly, not taking turns, always want the same job, disagreements, lack of respect for materials, etc

Roles of the Teacher

• Making Decisions before the Lesson begins

• Setting the lesson

• Monitoring and Intervening during group work

• Evaluating the product and process of group work

CL Reflection

• Do we take turn ?

• Do we praise ?

• Do we like to help ?

• And so on ……..

Are you helpful…?

• When I know the answer did I share with friends?

• Do I encourage others in my group?

• Do I use name?

• Do I feel encouraged by other members?

• If my answer is not the same as others, do I further investigate?

• If I do not know the answer, do I ask friends in the group?

• If my friends do not understand, do I help them?

Team-building through…

• What do you have in common?

• Personal Storytelling

• Interviews