Enhancing Learning Through Cooperative Strategies

1. Cooperative Learning A teaching strategy for covenant and content

2. COOPERATIVE LEARNING WHAT IT IS NOT: • The panacea for all your instructional problems… • The only way to teach effectively… • The best way to teach everything….

3. Differences Between Traditional Groupwork and Cooperative Learning

4. Differences (con’t.) • Task and group behavior emphasized Only task is emphasized • Social skills directly taught Social skills assumed • Group processing on teamwork No group processing

5. ELEMENTS OF COOPERATIVELY STRUCTURED LEARNING •  Group heterogeneity •  Positive group interdependence •  Individual accountability •  Leadership skills •  Group processing

6. SOME BENEFITS OF COOPERATIVELY STRUCTURED LEARNING:THE RESEARCH  Facilitates higher achievement, particularly among students in the lower 50th percentile.  Increases student perspective-taking  Can foster better attitude toward school  Increases retention at school  Increases intrinsic motivation  Can foster more positive heterogeneous relationships  Can foster more language development  Increases self-esteem  Encourages greater collaboration  Fosters more on-task behavior (if done correctly!)  Encourages more positive psychological adjustment  Provides more social support

7. CONTINUUM OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING • May be: • Simple to Complex • May feature: • Cooperation to Appropriate competition • May use: • Pairs Triad Quartets • May last: • 1 class session Up to six weeks • May require: • Few social skills Many social skills