Monday, September 26, 2011
Instructional Strategies
Cooperative learning is one type of instructional strategy. Students at all levels, K-post secondary, are often engaged in cooperative learning at some time during an academic year. Some students learn best when working with others, while the opposite is true for some. How do you think cooperative learning should be implemented into classrooms? How do you think cooperative learning should be assessed?
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Cooperative learning is a valuable instructional method because it allows students to collaborate together to achieve a common goal. Cooperative learning can be implemented in a variety of forms to facilitate small group discussion, debate, think-pair-share, brainstorming, literature circles, or group project. These models enable students to explore ideas and problem solve through discussion and debate. Utilizing cooperative learning enables students to consider another student’s perspective. It is important when assessing cooperative learning to evaluate three major components: individual effort, group’s end product, and teamwork within the group. Assessments can be done through observation, anecdotal records, peer/self-evaluation, formal checklists, or rubrics. Teachers need to examine teamwork because cooperative learning not only has academic benefits but also develops students’ communication and interpersonal skills. Overall cooperative learning is a beneficial technique to utilize because it enhances learning while creating a sense of community within the classroom.
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning is essential in the classroom. I have heard many professors say that when students hear things from their peers, they retain information better than just hearing a teacher. I think this is because when it is a peer they are more interested than when a teacher tells them something. This kind of student directed learning helps students think they are more in control in what they learn. Cooperative learning should be implemented in the classroom by giving students tasks that are too difficult to achieve themselves. Then have the students break into groups to achieve the task together. Doing this helps students’ success rate increase because of the collaboration that can occur when there is cooperative learning. Even though cooperative learning helps develop a higher cognitive process, there should also be times when students work individual because not every student likes to work in groups. This means that there should be a variety of individual and group work. I think cooperative learning can be assessed by projects or presentations. This way each person has a way to contribute to the assessment. Also, I think the students should be assessed individually and as a group. Too many times I have seen groups that have a student who does not do anything to contribute so when there is a group project or presentation, the group should hand in the whole project and the parts each student did separately. The separate parts don’t really have to be graded in depth but just show the student participated. I think cooperative learning is essential in the classroom but it shouldn’t be the only instructional strategy that is used.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point that Stephanie made about teachers assigning tasks to students that are too difficult to achieve on their own. Challenging tasks promote collaboration through brainstorming, problem solving, and sharing of ideas. This model creates positive interdependence because each group member depends on each other to accomplish a shared goal. Through cooperative learning, students learn to encourage, support, and assist each other in order to achieve success. Cooperative learning is an effective tool for teachers to use in establishing a safe and positive learning environment.
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning is important in school because students need to learn to be team players. This is important because when they get out into the world, they have to know how to work with others so that they can have a job or career. I do know that some students often do better working by themselves but they need to work to overcome this. A way to help them do this would be to have designated jobs for each student or have certain areas for each student to research. I would then have them come back and share the ideas they have and explain this to their peers.
ReplyDeleteFor a class that has problem solving, have the students look at the problems individually for five minutes and then have them get into groups to determine the best way to solve the problem.
When it comes to assessment, I would grade the students on their problem solving ideas for both individually and collaboratively. I would also grade on their ability to work with others.
Cooperative learning can be very useful in a classroom. When used effectively it allows students to converse with one another and bounce ideas off of each other to get new ideas. Cooperative learning can be implemented by small or large group discussions, group projects, or partner work. A techer can assess cooperative learning by walking around when students are working together, or have the students complete self-evaluations. Cooperative learning can be a great way for students to work together and benefit from their classmates, they may also learn something about themselves as they are working with others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Stephanie M said about collaboration creating a sense of community in the classroom. If students are able to collaborate with each other they will feel more comfortalbe talking with others outside of their classroom. When collaborating with others they can also see how they are thinking about a certain situation and maybe gain new perspectives on something they have been struggling with.
ReplyDeleteI think cooperative should be implemented when assessment does not rely solely on students’ individual knowledge or work. Cooperative learning makes it harder to tell who developed what thought and who has a strong understanding of a concept. I think that cooperative learning can be great at the beginning of a unit when you are trying to learn what students know and they can build their information off of each other. It can also be very beneficial for projects because it shows how students have to work together to get the best end result. I think cooperative learning is necessary in the classroom because group work and people skills are needed for students to be successful. I think that cooperation needs to be assessed on how well they work within their group, what they contribute, and how the end result comes together. Assessing cooperative learning this way holds the student responsible for themselves, the project, and treats each other with respect.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie and think she makes a good point when she says that students can learn better and gain more from a lesson if they are learning and working with their peers than just hearing it from their teacher. When students work together I think they take more ownership in their work. I think using scaffolding within a peer group, like peer tutoring is a great way to have students learn and gain achievement because they are looking at the same or similar information in a different light. Cooperative learning is a very student-based learning style like Stephanie said and I think it is great to implement when student-based learning is appropriate.
ReplyDeleteCooperative learning is very important in classrooms, especially with younger students. It helps them develop socially, and also gives them different points of view they may not have thought about on their own. I am a big believer in teamwork and collaboration, so I feel like it should definitely be a part of every classroom, no matter what age. It can be implemented in classrooms many different ways. First, teachers can set up desks so that they are in round table or even square shape. This naturally will have kids working together and collaborating. Another strategy is to use the think, pair, share strategy. This is used in many of my high school and even college classes and I find it to be very helpful. It really helps kids to see different perspectives. When kids are talking with a partner or small group, somebody may say something that another never thought about so it is very useful and effective in the classroom. Opening it up to whole discussion is even better because again, there are more perspectives and opinions and thoughts to be considered and thought about in a different point of view. Another important aspect of cooperative learning is if a student is not on task or daydreaming, pulling a group together and having a discussion can catch that student back up and help them to realize they were drifting away. This will make them more aware of what they do, and hopefully help to end that problem. Assessing cooperative learning is a little different, but with practice and experience, it can be easy. A few possibilities include having students present something that they have collaborated on in front of the whole class. After the presentation, a large group discussion would be fantastic and just gets everybody's mind working. Another way to assess them is just to walk around and listen. Listen to each table, group, team, whatever, and see what they have to say. See who is contributing and how it is effecting the other students. Bouncing ideas off each other and forming a new idea from what somebody else said is excellent when in these groups. Assessing cooperative learning can be difficult, but it definitely can be done.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie Lynch when she said that cooperative learning should not be the only type of learning in the classroom. Some days may need to be individual learning or sometimes expository learning may be the best to use. It really depends on the lesson and the students. The problem with cooperative learning is that you can't always see if someone is really understanding things or if they are just copying down their partners work. If you do a whole unit using cooperative learning you may not notice until you grade the tests which students were understanding and which were just putting down what their group said. In some cases it may be obvious when they are doing group work but it can still cause troubles if you don't use other learning methods.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kindra when she said students should look at a problem individually and them come together in a group to discuss the problem. Sometimes when you put students in a group right away some students will not even try to come up with ideas because others will do it for them or because their thought process is different. Giving more time for students to think individually will give everyone a chance to think of an idea and when the students do get together everyone can share ideas to pick the best idea or to combine ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well. While I think cooperative learning learning is important for students, I also think students need to do some individual work. As Kindra said, they need to be tested individually so the teacher can see what students are getting the material, and what students still need help. Collaborating and teamwork are great tools to implement in a classroom, but there does need to be other teaching methods and strategies used as well.
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