Cooperative Learning

Allowing students to work in cooperative groups affords them the opportunity to develop social and communication skills while working with peers of various ethnic, religious, and racial groups. ...students working together and interacting with each other, contribute to internalizing concepts by forcing the students to defend their views against challenges brought by their peers.

(NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards,"Geometry in the Middle Grades, Addenda Series, Grades 5-8," pg vii)

People learn from interactions with other people. Through group work, students listen to one another's ideas, offering suggestions and conjectures.

Research shows that working in cooperative groups can result in:

• higher achievement for students
• improved self-concept
• a positive attitude toward school
• greater retention of material presented
• more time-on-task
• improved higher-level thinking
• improved social skills, working with others.

Hints for Implementing Cooperative Learning

• Set up rules and expectations for groups to use.
• Start with pairs and then work up to larger groups.
• Select groups to suit the activity. Groups can be selected randomly for short term work or heterogeniously for extended group work.
• Arrange the room to facilitate close seating.
• Assign each person in the group a "job" (cheerleader, materials specialist, timekeeper, etc.).
• Change the groups after they have been successful at their task.
• Assess each student as well as the collective work of the group.

Working together is a skill that students need to learn. The table below lists levels of behaviors to expect as your student work in cooperative groups.

Social Skill Behaviors
Beginning	Basic	Advanced
Stays with group	Checking	Criticize ideas, not people
Helps complete the group's work	Shares feelings	Non-evaluative language (descriptive language)
Listens to others	Asks for hlep	Perspective-taking
Shares materials	Encourages others	Conflict resolution
Shares ideas	Works well with all	Problem solving
Takes turns	Communication	Resolve controversy
Uses names	- "I" statements	Reaching consensus
Keeps hands to self (i.e., touching nicely)	- Active listening	Differentiating ideas
Talks in a soft voice	- Paraphrasing (clarifying ideas)	Integrating ideas (putting ideas together)
No put downs	Supporting statements
Everyone works	Praise Asks questions Summarizes Organizes group work Acknowledges others

Articles

Davidson, Neil, Julian Weissglass, Laurel Robertson. "Staff Development for Cooperative Learning in Mathematics." Journal of Staff Development, Vol.11, No.3 (Summer, 1990): 12-17

Edwards, Claudia and Judy Stout. "Cooperative Learning: The First Year." Educational Leadership (December 1989/January 1990): 38-41.