Effective Designs and Practices for Formal Cooperative Learning (Problem-Based Learning)

1. Effective Designs and Practices for Formal Cooperative Learning (Problem-Based Learning) Karl A. Smith University of Minnesota ksmith@umn.edu www.ce.umn.edu/~smith

2. Formal Cooperative Learning Task Groups

3. Design team failure is usually due to failed team dynamics (Leifer, Koseff & Lenshow, 1995). It’s the soft stuff that’s hard, the hard stuff is easy (Doug Wilde, quoted in Leifer, 1997)

4. Engineering Total Design – 36% Computer applications – 31% Management – 29% Civil/Architectural Management – 45% Design – 39% Computer applications – 20% Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities(Burton, Parker & LeBold, 1998) Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W. 1998. U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9), 18-21. 4

5. Teamwork 5

6. A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable • SMALL NUMBER • COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS • COMMON PURPOSE & PERFORMANCE GOALS • COMMON APPROACH • MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY --Katzenbach & Smith The Wisdom of Teams

7. 7

8. Cooperative Learning is instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that involve both positive interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome). Key Concepts •Positive Interdependence •Individual and Group Accountability •Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction •Teamwork Skills •Group Processing

10. Teamwork Skills • Communication • Listening and Persuading • Decision Making • Conflict Management • Leadership 10

11. Group Task and Maintenance Roles Group Task Roles Group Maintenance Roles Initiating Encouraging Seeking Information Expressing Feelings Harmonizing Giving Information Compromising Seeking Opinions Facilitating Communications Giving Opinions Clarifying Setting Standards or Goals Elaborating Testing Agreement Summarizing Following

12. Team Charter • Team name, membership, and roles • Team Mission Statement • Anticipated results (goals) • Specific tactical objectives • Ground rules/Guiding principles for team participation • Shared expectations/aspirations

13. Code of Cooperation •EVERY member is responsible for the team’s progress and success. •Attend all team meetings and be on time. •Come prepared. •Carry out assignments on schedule. •Listen to and show respect for the contributions of other members; be an active listener. •CONSTRUCTIVELY criticize ideas, not persons. •Resolve conflicts constructively, •Pay attention, avoid disruptive behavior. •Avoid disruptive side conversations. •Only one person speaks at a time. •Everyone participates, no one dominates. •Be succinct, avoid long anecdotes and examples. •No rank in the room. •Respect those not present. •Ask questions when you do not understand. •Attend to your personal comfort needs at any time but minimize team disruption. •HAVE FUN!! •? Adapted from Boeing Aircraft Group Team Member Training Manual

14. Ten Commandments: An Affective Code of Cooperation • Help each other be right, not wrong. • Look for ways to make new ideas work, not for reasons they won't. • If in doubt, check it out! Don't make negative assumptions about each other. • Help each other win, and take pride in each other's victories. • Speak positively about each other and about your organization at every opportunity. • Maintain a positive mental attitude no matter what the circumstances. • Act with initiative and courage, as if it all depends on you. • Do everything with enthusiasm; it's contagious. • Whatever you want; give it away. • Don't lose faith. • Have fun Ford Motor Company 14

15. Group Processing Plus/Delta Format Delta Things Group Could Improve Plus Things That Group Did Well

16. Formal Cooperative Learning • Jigsaw • 2. Peer Composition or Editing • 3. Reading Comprehension/Interpretation • 4. Problem Solving, Project, or Presentation • 5. Review/Correct Homework • 6. Constructive Academic Controversy • 7. Group Tests

17. Professor's Role in Formal Cooperative Learning 1. Specifying Objectives 2. Making Decisions 3. Explaining Task, Positive Interdependence, and Individual Accountability 4. Monitoring and Intervening to Teach Skills 5. Evaluating Students' Achievement and Group Effectiveness

18. Comparison of Learning Groups Less Structured (Traditional) More Structured (Cooperative) Low interdependence. Members take High positive interdependence. Members responsibility only for self. Focus is on are responsible for own and each other’s individual performance only. learning. Focus is on joint performance. Individual accountability only Both group and individual accountability. Members hold self and others accountable for high quality work. Assignments are discussed with little Members promote each other’s success. commitment to each other’s learning. The do real work together and help and support each other’s efforts to learn. Teamwork skills are ignored. Leader is Teamwork skills are emphasized. Members appointed to direct members’ participation. are taught and expected to use social skills. All members share leadership responsibilities. No group processing of the quality of its Group processes quality of work and how work. Individual accomplishments are effectively members are working together. rewarded. rewarded. Continuous improvement is emphasized. Continuous improvement is emphasized.

19. Kolb=s Experiential Learning Cycle Concrete Experience Testing implications of concepts in new situations Observation and Reflections Formulation of abstract concepts and generalizations

20. Problem-Based Learning START Apply it Problem posed Learn it Normative Professional Curriculum: 1. Teach the relevant basic science, 2. Teach the relevant applied science, and 3. Allow for a practicum to connect the science to actual practice. Identify what we need to know Subject-Based Learning START Given problem to illustrate how to use it Told what we need to know Learn it

21. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Problem-based learning is the learning that results from the process of working toward the understanding or resolution of a problem. The problem is encountered first in the learning process B Barrows and Tamlyn, 1980 Core Features of PBL $ Learning is student-centered $ Learning occurs in small student groups $ Teachers are facilitators or guides $ Problems are the organizing focus and stimulus for learning $ Problems are the vehicle for the development of clinical problem-solving skills $ New information is acquired through self-directed learning

22. Problem Based Cooperative Learning Format TASK: Solve the problem(s) or Complete the project. INDIVIDUAL: Estimate answer. Note strategy. COOPERATIVE: One set of answers from the group, strive for agreement, make sure everyone is able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem. EXPECTED CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Everyone must be able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem. EVALUATION: Best answer within available resources or constraints. INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: One member from your group may be randomly chosen to explain (a) the answer and (b) how to solve each problem. EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: Active participating, checking, encouraging, and elaborating by all members. INTERGROUP COOPERATION: Whenever it is helpful, check procedures, answers, and strategies with another group.

23. Cooperative Learning Research Support Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K.A. 1998. Cooperative learning returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30 (4), 26-35. • Over 300 Experimental Studies • First study conducted in 1924 • High Generalizability • Multiple Outcomes Outcomes 1. Achievement and retention 2. Critical thinking and higher-level reasoning 3. Differentiated views of others 4. Accurate understanding of others' perspectives 5. Liking for classmates and teacher 6. Liking for subject areas 7. Teamwork skills

24. Small-Group Learning: Meta-analysis Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. 1999. Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21-52. Small-group (predominantly cooperative) learning in postsecondary science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET). 383 reports from 1980 or later, 39 of which met the rigorous inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. The main effect of small-group learning on achievement, persistence, and attitudes among undergraduates in SMET was significant and positive. Mean effect sizes for achievement, persistence, and attitudes were 0.51, 0.46, and 0.55, respectively.

25. Strategies for Energizing Large Classes: From Small Groups to Learning Communities: Jean MacGregor, James Cooper, Karl Smith, Pamela Robinson New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 81, 2000. Jossey- Bass

26. From Small Groups to Learning Communities: Energizing Large Classes 1. The argument for making large classes seem small 2. Getting started: Informal small-group strategies in large classes 3. Going deeper: Formal small-group learning in large classes (included in handout) 4. Restructuring large classes to create communities of learners 5. Implementing small-group learning: Insights from successful practitioners 6. Making small-group learning and learning communities a widespread reality

27. The Harvard Assessment Seminars B Richard J. Light All the specific findings point to, and illustrate, one main idea. It is that students who get the most out of college, who grow the most academically, and who are the happiest, organize their time to include interpersonal activities with faculty members, or with fellow students, built around substantive, academic work. Environmental Factors That Enhance Students= Academic and Personal Development and Satisfaction Alexander Astin in What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. Jossey-Bass, 1993. Student-student interaction Student-faculty interaction A faculty that is very student-oriented Discussing racial/ethnic issues with other students Hours devoted to studying B Time on task Tutoring other students Socializing with students of different race/ethnicity A student body that has high socioeconomic status An institutional emphasis on diversity A faculty that is positive about the general education program A student body that values altruism and social activism 27

28. Making the Most of College Richard J. Light Harvard University Press (2001) 1. Meet the faculty 2. Take a mix of courses 3. Study in groups 4. Write, write, write 5. Speak another language 6. Consider time 7. Hold the drum 28

29. Fostering Student Engagement in Learning: Lessons from Recent Research Alexander Astin Collaboration (May, 2001) 1. Service-learning 2. Interdisciplinary studies 3. Common courses 4. Extensive writing 5. Collaborative learning 6. Independent study 7. Multiculturalism 29

30. Key Features of Cooperative Learning Active/Interactive Cooperative Personal (before professional) Structure (before task) Knee-to-Knee, Eye-to-Eye/Space/Focus Challenging task (worthy of group effort) Students talking through the material (cognitive rehearsal) Learning groups are small (2-5) and assigned Heterogeneous Your own cooperative group 30

31. The biggest and most long-lasting reforms of undergraduate education will come when individual faculty or small groups of instructors adopt the view of themselves as reformers within their immediate sphere of influence, the classes they teach every day. K. Patricia Cross 31