Cooperative Learning is a very effective strategy to use in the classroom. It correlates with the social learning theories in the way that it is the social part of the theory. Students need to talk to one another while learning. Cooperative Learning groups can be used in many ways and for many tasks. They can also change so that the group better fits an assignment. Teachers can put together groups by interests, abilities, and randomly. All students are held responsible in the group. The students are responsible for learning the material but also to make sure everyone in the group has done their part. Cooperative groups also help the teacher in that the teacher can be a facilitator of learning instead of standing in front of the classroom lecturing the students. Cooperative learning also helps prepare students for the real world because they one day will have to work with a group of people at a job so that they can complete a presentation or task for their boss.
When I use cooperative groups in the classroom, I assign each child a role so that everything gets done and everyone has something to do so that one student does not do all the work. The groups always have a leader, recorder, and collector. If there are more than 3 people, there are other titles that they are given. Each student knows their role and the others role so that they can hold each other responsible throughout the task.
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I am also a big fan of assigning a role to each participant in social work groups in my classroom. However, I have been more lenient to allow students to choose whom they would like to work with. I have struggled often with students who suffer social anxiety and freeze up when asked to work with particular students, or students who simple refuse and sabotage the group’s final product out of spite. Although I know it is not the most popular practice in education, I do allow students to work with whom they please as long as they are working effectively, I have seen great artifacts being produces by groups of people who work well with one another and don't have to worry about having to work with a different person.
ReplyDeleteI agree that students do their best learning when being able to discuss their ideas with others. However, assessing students based on their collaborative work can be difficult. That is why it is so important to do as you did, assign specific roles to students. That way, you are able to assess each student on the completion of their role. Do you find that you rotate student responsibilities to see how they function with each task? Also, do you have a self-evaluation or group-evaluation process? I find that allowing students the opportunity to anonymously assess their experience with their group is not only a healthy outlet for the students in their learning process, but also an inside view for the teacher to understand the inner workings of the group better.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very important in cooperative learning to make sure that each individual in the group is assigned a specific task. This is very important to make sure that all group members contribute to the task at hand. Cooperative learning groups are very helpful to teach students to work with others- even if they don’t like the other people in the group! This is a skill that will be very helpful throughout the rest of their schooling as well as in the workplace. I also agree that the teacher being the facilitator helps the students learn to become independent in their quest for knowledge. The teacher is always there as a support, but essentially the students learn to use the tools that the teacher provides in order to enhance their knowledge.
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning is a wonderful tool for teachers to use in the classroom. I also use the role assignments when setting up the groups. It allows for everyone to have responsibilities. The teacher as the facilitator of learning is another tool that is very useful especially when you are dealing with middle school students. It reinforces the student’s ability to be independent learners. Having the students working cooperatively teaches them to trust others and learn from others. How do you evaluate your cooperative groups? In my class I have assessed my cooperative learning groups as a whole and also individually. When setting up cooperative groups I clearly explain the entire procedure from beginning to end so that students will know exactly what they are required to do and how they will be assessed.
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