I was recently responding to a thread on PICCLE, and while I was trying to come up with some ideas on collaborative learning, I came across the concept of cooperative learning. I remember taking my first ed pysch class and learning about this type of group work. I was surprised to find that I didn’t remember that much about it though, having been two years since I’ve taken that class. I furthered my curiosity by researching the topic. I was able to find numerous websites explaining what it is and how to implement it in the classroom. The only disappointment I had was that all of the websites listed about the same nine or ten strategies. Being the tech savvy student I’ve learned to be from my LLED classes, I then checked youtube for some informational videos. The following information is what I was able to find while using my personal learning network and internet resources.

The Goals and Purpose of Cooperative Learning:
• To promote positive relationships and mutual respect among teammates
• To foster accountability (both individual and group)
• To provide a venue for problem solving as a team

Benefits of cooperative learning:
• Promotes student learning and academic achievement
• Increases student retention
• Enhances student satisfaction with their learning experience
• Helps students develop skills in oral communication
• Develops students’ social skills
• Promotes self-esteem
• Helps to promote positive race relations
• Acknowledgment of individual differences (When questions are raised, different students will have a variety of responses. Each of these can help the group create a product that reflects a wide range of perspectives and is thus more complete and comprehensive.)
• More opportunities for personal feedback. (Because there are more exchanges among students in small groups, your students receive more personal feedback about their ideas and responses. This feedback is often not possible in large-group instruction, in which one or two students exchange ideas and the rest of the class listens.)
• Celebration of diversity. (Students learn to work with all types of people. During small-group interactions, they find many opportunities to reflect upon and reply to the diverse responses fellow learners bring to the questions raised. Small groups also allow students to add their perspectives to an issue based on their cultural differences. This exchange inevitably helps students to better understand other cultures and points of view.)
• Interpersonal development. (Students learn to relate to their peers and other learners as they work together in group enterprises. This can be especially helpful for students who have difficulty with social skills. They can benefit from structured interactions with others.)
• Actively involving students in learning. (Each member has opportunities to contribute in small groups. Students are apt to take more ownership of their material and to think critically about related issues when they work as a team.)

How to Implement Cooperative Learning in Five Steps:
1.) Assign Groups
2.) Provide Guidelines
3.) Assign Task with Parameters
4.) Assessment
5.) Share Results
The teacher’s role throughout this process is to provide assistance as needed.

Tips on Implementing Cooperative Learning:
• Choose a cooperative learning strategy that the team will use to complete the task.
• Assign a task to be completed defining the parameters and clearly identifying the goals.
• Provide assistance when needed.
• Provide an evaluation checklist with points to determine progress in achieving team goals.
• Provide an opportunity for the team to share results of teamwork.

How to assign groups:
• Pupils are assigned to small groups or teams (ideally no more than 4 members in a group)
• Teams are comprised of pupils of different ability levels.
• The immediate intention is that each member of the “team” accepts the responsibility to achieve the goal(s) of instruction while helping any teammates who need assistance. Tasks or activities that are assigned can vary in nature depending on the grade level.
• Assign groups according to different backgrounds, keeping each team as diverse as possible.

FAQ’s I had before and during my researching:

How many students should be in a group?
Ideally, no more than 4 students in a group

How do I create groups?
Try to create groups that are diverse in skill/ability level, as well as racially and socioeconomically

How can I incorporate it into an English classroom?
The following website gives an example of how to incorporate cooperative learning into an English class, through a poetry lesson.
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LanguageArtsPoetryCoOp.htm

For the 10 Cooperative Learning Activities and Strategies, check out the following websites:

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm#elements

http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/cooperativelearningtips.html

Other sites used in my research:

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm#elements

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub6.html