Cooperative learning facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Cooperative learning is a cool way to learn where students work together in groups. Instead of just listening to the teacher or working alone, you team up with classmates to reach a shared goal. It's like a team sport for your brain!

When you learn cooperatively, everyone helps each other. You can ask questions, share ideas, and check each other's work. The teacher becomes more of a guide, helping you learn instead of just giving you information. The best part? Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds!

For cooperative learning to work well, there are five main things needed:

Positive interdependence: This means everyone in the group needs each other to succeed. Your success depends on your teammates, and their success depends on you.
Individual and group accountability: Each person is responsible for their own part, and the whole group is responsible for the final outcome.
Promotive interaction: You talk face-to-face, helping and encouraging each other.
Social skills: You learn important skills like communicating, making decisions, and solving problems together.
Group processing: The group thinks about how well they worked together and how they can do even better next time.

Studies show that students who learn cooperatively often do better in school, think more clearly, feel better about themselves, and get along better with their classmates.

History of Cooperative Learning

People have known for a long time that working together can be very powerful. Before World War II, thinkers like Allport and Mead noticed that groups often did better work than individuals.

In 1937, researchers May and Doob found that people who cooperated to reach goals were more successful than those who worked alone. They also saw that people working alone were more likely to compete.

Important thinkers like John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Morton Deutsch also shaped cooperative learning.

John Dewey believed that school should help students learn skills they could use in real life and in a democratic society. He thought students should be active learners, discussing ideas in groups.
Kurt Lewin focused on how group members depend on each other to reach a goal.
Morton Deutsch introduced the idea of positive social interdependence. This means that each student is responsible for adding to the group's knowledge.

Since then, David and Roger Johnson have done a lot of work on cooperative learning. In 1975, they found that working together helped students like each other more, communicate better, and think in new ways. In 1994, they shared the five key elements we still use today for successful group learning.

How Cooperative Learning Works

The main idea behind cooperative learning is called social interdependence theory. This means that what one person does affects others.

There are two main types of social interdependence:

Positive interdependence: This is when everyone's actions help the group reach its goals. If one person succeeds, it helps everyone else succeed too. This leads to people helping each other.
Negative interdependence: This is when one person's success means another person fails. This often leads to competition.

In cooperative learning, the goal is always positive interdependence. When groups have common goals, it creates a feeling that motivates everyone to work together to achieve those goals.

Types of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning can happen in different ways:

Formal Cooperative Learning

This type of learning is planned by the teacher for a specific task or unit. Groups usually have 2 to 6 people and work together for a short time, like a few minutes, or for a whole class period. Examples include:

The jigsaw technique: Students become "experts" on one part of a topic and then teach it to their group.
Group problem-solving: Working together to solve tricky problems or make decisions.
Lab experiments: Doing science experiments as a team.
Peer review: Helping each other improve writing assignments.

The jigsaw technique is great because when you teach something, it shows you've really learned it!

Informal Cooperative Learning

This is less structured and often involves quick, small group discussions during a lesson. It might be as simple as turning to a partner for a few minutes to discuss a question. These groups are usually temporary.

A common informal method is:

Think-pair-share: First, you think about a question by yourself. Then, you share your ideas with a partner. Finally, the teacher asks the whole class to share their thoughts. This helps everyone have an idea ready to share.

Group-Based Cooperative Learning

These are long-term groups, like a study group that meets for a whole semester or even a year. The goal is for members to help each other master a topic, offering encouragement and support for academic and personal success.

Base group learning is an example of this. It's like a long-term study group that helps you learn complex subjects. These groups build strong friendships and make students feel more committed to their learning. If someone misses a lesson, the base group helps them catch up, which is good for both individual learning and social support.

Key Elements of Cooperative Learning

For cooperative learning to be truly effective, five main elements are essential:

Positive Interdependence: Every group member must feel that they are responsible for their own learning and for the learning of their group. Each person has a specific task or role, and everyone needs to participate fully.
Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction: Group members need to talk to each other, explain what they are learning, and help each other understand and complete assignments. They should encourage each other's success.
Individual and Group Accountability: Each student must show they understand the material. This means every student is responsible for their own work, which helps prevent anyone from not doing their part (sometimes called "social loafing").
Social Skills: Students need to learn how to communicate well, make decisions, build trust, and manage disagreements. These skills are taught as part of cooperative learning.
Group Processing: After working together, the group takes time to think about what went well and what could be improved. This helps them work better as a team in the future.

For students to learn a lot, two things are key: 1. Everyone must know their responsibilities and understand that they are accountable to the group. 2. All group members must be involved, with each person having a unique task that only they can complete.

Cooperative Learning Techniques

There are many different ways to use cooperative learning. Some techniques involve pairs, while others use small groups of four or five students.

Think-Pair-Share

This technique, created by Frank T. Lyman, helps students think deeply about a question. 1. Think: Students silently think about a question or problem. They might write down ideas or just brainstorm in their heads. 2. Pair: Students then team up with a partner to discuss their ideas and listen to their partner's thoughts. 3. Share: Finally, the teacher asks the whole class to share some of the ideas from their pairs. This makes it easier for students to speak up because they've already practiced their ideas.

Jigsaw

In the Jigsaw technique, students belong to two groups:

Home group: This is your main group, where each person is given a different topic to learn.
Expert group: After getting your topic, you meet with other students who have the same topic. You all become "experts" on that part of the material.

Once you're an expert, you go back to your home group and teach your topic to your teammates.

Jigsaw II

This is a version of Jigsaw where everyone in the home group gets the same material, but each person focuses on a different part of it. They become experts on their part and then teach it to their home group.

Reverse Jigsaw

In this version, created by Timothy Hedeen, students in the expert groups teach the whole class instead of just their home group.

Inside-Outside Circle

Students form two circles, one inside the other. The inside circle faces out, and the outside circle faces in. Students in the inner circle face a partner from the outer circle. They discuss a question, and then one circle rotates, so everyone gets a new partner to discuss with. This is a fun way to share many ideas quickly.

Reciprocal Teaching

Developed by Brown and Paliscar, reciprocal teaching helps students understand what they read. In pairs, students take turns reading and asking each other questions. They get immediate feedback. This method helps students use important reading strategies like:

Clarifying: Making sure everyone understands difficult words or ideas.
Questioning: Asking questions about the text.
Predicting: Guessing what might happen next.
Summarizing: Briefly explaining the main points.

Studies show this method can help students in subjects like math and can be very helpful for students who struggle with learning.

Rally Table

In a Rally Table, students are divided into groups. They work together to complete a written task, passing the paper around as each person adds their part. It's a great way to build teamwork and encourage group learning.

Team Game Tournament (TGT)

In TGT, students work in small groups to study for a trivia game. This makes learning fun and gives students a reason to learn the material well. Here's how it works: 1. Students study material in their groups. 2. They then compete in a tournament, usually in small teams of 3-4 students. 3. Stronger students compete with weaker students, and winners move to higher-level teams, while those who don't score as well move to easier levels. This makes sure students compete with others at their own skill level.

TGT helps students cooperate and enjoy friendly competition. It also makes students responsible for preparing the material. It can make learning exciting and helps students learn from each other.

What Research Says

Research shows that cooperative learning has many good results. It helps students:

Learn more: Students often get higher test scores and better grades.
Improve social skills: They learn to work well with others, communicate, and give helpful feedback.
Break down barriers: It helps students from different backgrounds or with different abilities work together and become friends.
Think deeper: It encourages higher-level thinking, new ideas, and better problem-solving.
Enjoy school more: Students often have better attendance, stay focused longer, and feel more motivated.

Cooperative learning is also used in businesses. Companies that encourage teamwork and shared learning often create new and innovative ideas.

Challenges of Cooperative Learning

While cooperative learning is great, it can have some challenges:

Group Hate

Sometimes, students might feel a "dread" about working in groups. This is called "group hate." It can happen if:

They've had bad experiences in groups before.
They do too many group projects and get tired of them.
They prefer to work alone.

Students often worry about getting a good grade, how difficult the task is, and how much effort it will take. They might choose to work alone if they think they can do a better job by themselves.

Some common reasons for group hate include:

Unclear instructions: If the teacher doesn't explain what's expected, students can get confused.
Working with the same people: Students might get tired of always being in groups with the same classmates, especially if some members don't do their part.

Loafing

Loafing happens when some students don't take responsibility for their role in the group. They might let others do most of the work, hoping to still get a good grade. This can make other students feel it's unfair and lead to group hate.

Teachers need to make sure the workload is shared fairly. It can be hard to spot loafing, but if students bring it to the teacher's attention, it can be addressed.

Assessing Groups

It can be tricky to grade group projects fairly. Students might give positive feedback about their group members, hoping to get a good assessment in return, even if it's not entirely accurate. Teachers need to find ways to make sure assessments are honest.

Group Cohesion and Conflict

Groups need to work together well and manage disagreements. If groups don't have enough time to build strong connections or learn how to solve conflicts, it can be frustrating. Many students have had negative group experiences, which makes them nervous about new group projects.

Even with these challenges, group learning is important because it teaches skills needed in higher education and in many jobs. Learning how to work well in a team is a valuable skill for the future.

Competition vs. Cooperation

While cooperative learning is very effective, competition and individual work can also be useful in certain situations. Competition can be good when:

Winning isn't the most important thing.
Everyone has a fair chance to win.
There are clear rules and ways to win.

Individual work can be good when:

Working in a group is too difficult or costly.
The goal is very important and clear.
You expect to succeed on your own.
The instructions are very clear, so you can work independently.
Your individual accomplishments will later be used in a group effort.