GROUP WORK & COOPERATIVE LEARNING

1. GROUP WORK & COOPERATIVE LEARNING AS TEACHING STRATEGIES

2. GROUP WORK (COOPERATION) • Small group work • Large group work • Critical outcomes (principles of OBE) Focus on the outcome

3. WHEN AND HOW TO APPLY GROUP WORK? (169) • To reach the ultimate outcome (academic and social) • Focus is placed on the active acceptors of information • Reconstruct / make sense • Work on a realistic task • Learners must work together effectively • Focus on communication • Improve problem solving skills DEFINE OUTCOMES

4. LIMITATIONS (171) • Learn how to learn in the environment “skills” • Not everybody is willing to do their part • Not everybody is accepted in the group • Cannot contribute and does not feel competent • Teachers do not want take control and places responsibility on learners” • If the activity is not monitored can time be wasted • Arrange the class

5. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION(172) • PLANNING • Plan before hand • Prepare the learners • Design how you will organise the group • Prepare the material • Develop guidelines • Set the problem • Organise and set rules.

6. 2. IMPLEMENTATION (173) REMEMBER IF THE LEARNERS ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE METHOD LET THEM WORK TOGETHER IN A GROUP OF TWO Step 1: outcomes Step 2: give the necessary information Step 3: form the groups under guidance and select role players Step 4:facilitate /monitor Step 5:activities to make the conclusions Step 6: plan assessment

7. WHAT WENT WRONG?

8. COOPERATIVE LEARNING ROLE OF THE TEACHER WHAT IS COOPERATIVE LEANING? ROLE OF THE LEARNERS ADVANTAGES TO WORK TOGETHER TO REACH A SPECIFIC AIM

9. GROUPS • Specialist group • Theme • 1 • Using coopeartive learning • 2 • Why does it work • 3 • What might go wrong • 4 • Preparing for co operative earning • 5 • Advantages of co operative learning • 6 • Limitations • 7 • Reflect on learning

10. ROLE OF THE LEARNER • Positive interdependence between learners • Learners want to understand one another and support one another • Individual responsibility • Appropriate interpersonal skills are learnt • Each member must reflect one what said

11. ROLE OF THE TEACHER • Division of groups (board; role play) • Task for each group • Determine method of feedback • Summarise • Determine method of assessment • Facilitate (keep focused) • Motivate • Take charge of progress

12. DISADVANTAGE • Learners do not like group work and prefer to work alone • Must learn from one another –only if it is effective • Do not want to be associated with the group • Success is ensured if learners realize that they are interdependent • Can fail if every learner does not realize that they have a responsibility

13. ADVANTAGE • Enhances and encourages cooperation between groups • Improves communication skills • Individual and group attempts are successful • Exchange and verbalizes ideas • Learners are encourages to think how they learn • Learners are responsible for own learning and realizes responsibility • A lot of work can be done in a short while Think of an example from your subject where you can apply it.

14. Reflect critically on cooperative learning as a teaching strategy (see Killan) • Reason for the implementation : more learners seem to be academically successful • Theoretical perspectives • Motivation • Social cohesion • Cognitive development • Cognitive elaboration

15. Motivation • Group awards motivate students to support one another • Group members achieve personal goals • Must be motivated to learn – does not matter which strategy is applied • Intrinsic motivation

16. Social cohesion • Students want to help one another , they care and want to be successful • Social interdependent • Self-evaluation –structure a positive climate

17. Cognitive perspectives • Cognitive perspective s: Interaction -student involvement is enhanced (Vygotsky) • Cognitive elaboration - Why? Motivation and support cohesion between groups - behaviourist: immediate feedback - cognitive : important verbalisation /conceptualisation - developmental process : peer modelling - humanistic :natural curiosity

18. Large group work • Provide clear indications to ensure that all learners engage during the presentation. • An advanced organizer directs the student on what to do and to listen with attention • Make use of non verbal signals to focus students attention during the presentation • Make use of quality media and technology • Make eye contact and ask various questions/stop the video • Interject humor to make students more alert • Circulate between the students • Presentations should be a learning activity when all following a common pattern

19. Large group work /small class work • In a large group the learners would cover a common pattern or topic and work individually on it where • in a small group the learners will work together on either a similar or common topic. • In large groups learners have individually responsibilities where in • small group roles are assigned to develop specific competencies. • In small groups the selection of learners in groups must take place (to ensure that good cooperation will take place) before the time where in • large groups the whole class is involved as a single group