Cooperative Learning Is A Revolutionary Style Of Teaching Essay

Cooperative learning has been researched frequently in education. Cooperative learning is a learning situation in which two or more students are working together to complete a common task (Siegel, 2005). A more complex definition of cooperative learning is detailed by the Office of Education Research Consumer Guide (1992): Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement (p. 1).

I approach collaboration as a team player, and I believe students need more than one person to guide them to their full educational potential. Also, active and prepared participation of weekly PLC meetings with the teachers of my special education students to plan collaborative curriculum have increased results in math and reading substantially. Participating in co-teaching furthers my repertoire of knowledge to assist my students. I have learned a vast amount from sharing and consulting with colleagues regarding students, observing mentoring teachers, and planning activities to ensure growth in students.

Cooperative learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task (TeacherVision, 2017). According to the Education Consumer Guide, Cooperative learning is successful because students of different levels of ability have the opportunity to use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.

Domains such as, cognitive development and development of aspects of information processing. Cognitive development is displayed when students use their problem solving and decision making skills. Development of aspects of information processing is displayed when students process the information that is given. Collaborative/cooperative learning promotes development of intelligence, personal and emotional development, development of motivation and self-regulation, and moral development. Development of intelligence is displayed when students work together and trust one another to solve a problem. Personal and emotional development is shown when students have positive and effect interactions with one another. Development of motivation and self-regulation is demonstrated when students have the ability to complete assignments without being distraction to others. Moral development is shown when students in the group work collaboratively and treat one another with

Allowing student collaboration in the classroom introduces the students to a variety of skills that they will use when they become adults. It teaches the students the fundamental skills associated with working as a collective unit toward a common goal. It also teaches the students time management, resource allocation and communication skills (McQuerrey, 2018). While

Secondly, the intervention goal is to improve students’ comfortability and motivation to work together to co-create knowledge. To promote group work and collaboration, cooperative learning will be used so students can work together to make sense of new information and solve problems. The first step is to ensure that the students understand and believe that the classroom is a safe and a nonjudgmental environment which will be accomplished by having students at the beginning of the schoolyear introduce themselves, provide their interests, and state what they would like to learn from the class. The teacher will establish pre-assigned, diverse, semester-length, groups for students to complete group work. Once students are acquainted with each other, they will engage in team-building exercises pertinent to a particular American history topic being learned to help develop rapport (e.g., each group member teaches each other something new about the topic). Overall, these steps will create a cooperative learning environment that will initiate motivation and comfortability.

(Woolfolk, 2013) talks about Cooperative learning, which is learning by working and talking to others. This allows participants to engage in discussion, elaborate, question and expand on their knowledge with each other. This can take place within group work, paired work and between teacher and pupil. Vygotsky’s theory suggest that for learning to be successful during social interaction; reasoning, comprehension, critical thinking takes place and then is internalised. Cooperative learning provides the purposes for scaffolding to take place to help advance learning. (Woolfolk,

Cooperative learning will be a method I use in my classroom. I believe that in a cooperative learning group a student can learn socialization skills and how to work with others. This goes along with the pragmatic/progressive philosophy that children learn by doing. The progressivism teaching style also includes the incorporation of problem-solving and critical thinking techniques. I want my students to learn to think for themselves and be able to function in society. At the same time, I will be a fellow learner myself and

In this report, the merits of cooperative education will be analysed alongside different experiential learning models to identify the model that provides the individual with the best possible learning experience. In addition to analyzing the different models, amendments in my opinion will be discussed as taken from before and during the cooperative learning experience. Coop is well known for its alternating school – work schedule. As such, connections between academic theory and my current workplace will be drawn to solidify to importance of cooperative education in the growth of an individual. The analysis and connections that these sections provide will support the final decision of the best learning model as the cooperative education model as well as the opinions that have changed favourably to clearly identify my future career aspirations. These conclusions will encourage related and crucial recommendations that will provide goals for the future to further my professional career.

Introducing collaborative learning will help students develop skills in social interaction, classroom engagement, and self-motivation. They need to learn these skills at a young age so they can interact with other children and create relationships with their peers. This is an important standard to teach the student’s because they will carry social interaction skills and self-motivation throughout their whole educational careers and throughout their

In the Book Review of Collaborative Learning, Stoerger said “ emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing educational community to a new forms” (2008). Collaborative learning involves groups of people to work, such as completing a project or producing a product. All team members’ work sequentially to the project and towards to the same goal. It is quite difference with cooperative learning, which members work concurrently on the project and focus their personal objective (Dillenbourg, 1999). For a university student, it is vital to learn collaborative learning, which can benefits for their current studying and for their futures’ career path. It also exists challenges for

This type of instructional method, and its varying implementations, provides the opportunity for each student to make a substantial contribution to his/her team. This contribution is where learning occurs. I do realize that there is a large gap between research and practice, and I know that cooperative learning is not a definite solution to my goals. What it provides is a means to a continuous labor of love moving closer to this goal, not a means to an end. Therefore, as an ongoing task, research will evolve as will my classroom practice. But, I do see some implementation rules that appear to be steadfast and help form my thoughts on constructing my future cooperative learning classroom.

Stevens and Slavin (1995) explain the use of a “cognitive apprenticeship” in which students of different achievement levels work together to learn new material. Students with higher-level academic abilities are able to use their mastery of the concepts to give explanations to the other students, whereas, the lower students are able to use the scaffolding of their fellow classmates as a comprehension technique to understand the material. Cooperative learning is not always looked at as the best teaching method.

My vision of collaborative learning is a learning strategy that affords the students enormous opportunities and advantages not available through traditional learning processes. I believe that students in a collaborative team tend to attain

‘Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves. It is through the talk that learning occurs.’