Introduction

Cooperative learning is an instructional strategy in which students are assigned to small, heterogeneous groups and, after receiving instruction from the teacher, work together cooperatively to accomplish a common task. Members are held individually accountable for a portion of the group’s work and are given a specific role to perform within their group. In Cooperative Learning, students are taught interpersonal skills important for working with others and are evaluated on the implementation and use of these skills within their groups. Group processing and reflection on individual effort and group work are important as students interact, collaborate and cooperate with their group members (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

Key Terms to Know

Cooperative Learning Groups

Criteria for Success

Facilitator

Heterogeneous Groups

Homogeneous Groups

Individual Accountability

Monitoring

Positive Independence

Processing

Resource Interdependence

Essential Elements

There are five essential elements that distinguish cooperative groups from other types of learning groups. These include:

1. Positive interdependence: This has been described as the most important element or the “heart” of cooperative learning because without this element, cooperation does not exist (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). As in all teamwork, the success of the group is dependent on each member’s contribution, effort, and commitment to the team. Students realize that the effort of one team member benefits not only that person but all of the other members (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). Groups learn to “sink or swim together” and maximize the learning of all members by sharing resources, offering mutual support, and celebrating group rewards and achievements (Johnson & Johnson, 1991).
2. Individual accountability: While the group (as a whole) must demonstrate success and progress in completing the assignment, individual accountability requires each group member to be accountable for mastering the material and personally responsible for a fair share of the work. Individual accountability is the key to ensuring that each member contributes to the group’s success and the final outcome and not “hitchhike” on the work of others (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). To document individual accountability, a variety of methods can be used including giving individual tests to all group members, randomly selecting students to orally report on the group’s progress, or requiring each student to share what they learned (Johnson, Johnson, Holubec, 1994; Wong & Wong, 2001).
3. Face to face interaction: Often called “promotive interaction,” students promote each other’s learning by interacting and communicating with other group members; thus, proximity to each other is critical. Members of a cooperative group should sit eye-to-eye and knee-to-knee so that they are close enough to easily maintain eye contact, share materials, and exchange thoughts without disrupting other groups (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).
4. Social skill development: To function as part of a team, students need to be taught collaboration skills (also called “social skills”) just as they are taught academic skills (Johnson & Johnson, 1991). Social skills that focus on communicating, building trust, understanding and appreciating others, managing conflict, and solving problems are crucial for working with others. Because social skills are the key to group productivity (Johnson & Johnson, 1991) and since many students do not know how to interact effectively with others and lack basic interpersonal skills, the teacher is responsible for introducing and teaching social skills. Students must then practice, implement, and then process their use of social skills within their cooperative groups (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).
5. Group processing: Successful group work is impacted by whether or not the group has reflected on their progress towards reaching their goal and how well they have functioned in the process (Johnson & Johnson, 1991). This last element is important in clarifying each member’s contribution towards the final outcome and assists in reinforcing positive behaviors and skills (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). Teachers must build time into each lesson for cooperative groups to analyze how efficiently they worked together and identify practices that enhance cooperative work. This is followed by a discussion both within the groups and as a whole-class processing session with feedback given by both the teacher and the group members. Group processing can result in higher achievement, enthusiasm about working in cooperative groups, and continuous improvement in the learning process (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

Types of Cooperative Learning Groups

There are three types of cooperative learning groups that teachers can implement:

1 Formal cooperative learning groups incorporate the five essential elements in order to complete a task or an assignment. This is the traditional type of cooperative learning group. In this structure, students work in their groups for one class or up to several weeks, depending on the assignment.

2 Cooperative base groups are long-term groups that last for an entire school year with membership that remains stable to allow students to develop working and personal relationships among members. Group members provide support and assistance needed to promote success and academic progress as well as psychological well-being (Johnson, Johnson, & Houblec, 1994).

3 Informal cooperative learning groups are described as ad-hoc or short term groups that work together to complete an assignment for a few minutes or for an entire class period. Generally, students are assigned to work with one partner. There are endless ways to use informal cooperative learning groups within lessons, such as focused discussion pairs, question and answer pairs, cooperative note-taking pairs, problem-solving pairs, cooperative writing and editing pairs, and turn to your neighbor summaries (Johnson, Johnson & Houblec, 1994). Informal cooperative groups can be used before or after a teacherled lesson to prepare students for the material to be taught (i.e., as an advanced organizer), to establish set, to ensure that students process the material, to check for understanding, or to provide closure to a lesson.

Rationale for Cooperative Learning in the 21st Century

Cooperative learning is supported by a wealth of research that substantiates its use as an effective instructional strategy (Slavin, 1991). Highly promoted and studied extensively by Johnson & Johnson (1975; 1984; 1990), it has been found to be beneficial for all students primarily because of its emphasis on cooperation as opposed to the competitive, individualistic structure of most classrooms and schools that has dominated education throughout history (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994). Collaborative skills are critically needed in today’s workplace where the team-based organizational approach is utilized and individuals must work together as a team and contribute to the success of the group. Because the ability to work well with others is necessary for success in the work world, cooperative learning can benefit students by giving them the skills for collaborating and interacting with others.

Cooperative learning has been found to be highly effective in multicultural and multilingual classrooms (Allison & Rehm, 2007). English language learners (ELLs) and students whose native language is not English benefit immensely from working and communicating in small groups with others who differ in culture and native language (Saravia-Shore & Garcia, 1995; Curtin, 2009). As our nation becomes more diverse and the number of ELLs or students with limited proficiency in English increases, strategies such as cooperative learning can assist students by enhancing their linguistic and communication skills as well as helping them to develop cross-cultural understandings and inter-ethnic friendships (Crandall, 1995).

Factors to Consider When Selecting Cooperative Learning

Teachers must be committed to learning and mastering the basic elements of cooperative learning. Johnson & Johnson (1989a) believe that real expertise in the use of cooperative learning comes by being able to structure the five basic elements into any lesson, a task that will require training and practice. Once teachers become comfortable and knowledgeable about implementing cooperative learning, it is recommended that they implement it routinely, 60 – 80 percent of the time. The result will be a true learning community within the class (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

Suitability for Lesson Objectives and Standards

When developing cooperative learning lessons, there are both academic objectives that identify the content student’s are to learn, and social skill objectives that help students’ gain the interpersonal and small-group skills needed to cooperate and work with others (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). Most any lesson can be modified and structured cooperatively without changing academic objectives. However, by simultaneously teaching social skills, lessons are enhanced because students gain valuable tools important for their future and learning extends beyond the acquisition of knowledge and facts.

Advantages of Cooperative Learning

There are numerous benefits for students and many positive outcomes of cooperative learning cited in the research. The primary advantages of using cooperative learning identified by Curtin, (2009); Johnson, Johnson & Holubec (1994) and by Orlich, Harder, Callan, Trevisan, Brown, & Miller (2013) include the following:

1. Higher achievement, retention of information, transfer of knowledge, and greater productivity by students of all ability levels.
2. Positive relationships among students through improved interpersonal skills and conflict resolution skills.
3. Increased psychological health among students (including self-esteem, emotional well-being, social competence, and the ability to cope with adversity and stress).
4. Opportunities to learn about, care, and respect others who are different.
5. Commitment to the success of others and educational goals which leads to feelings of personal responsibility, less absenteeism and dropping out of school.
6. Engagement in the learning process as well as motivation and enthusiasm to learn created by working with other young people as opposed to working alone.
7. Opportunities to communicate with others, practice English speaking skills, enhance literacy and language acquisition; especially beneficial for culturally and linguistically diverse students and students who are learning the English language.
8. Opportunities for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned in a variety of ways including through authentic assessment, which evaluates students on how well they can apply and use information in a real-life situation or context.
9. Students work together to accomplish shared goals and therefore have a vested interest in helping and assisting others to be successful instead of competing against each other for grades and recognition.
10. Students learn to rely on each other and become responsible for their own learning rather than depending on a teacher which leads to better classroom management.

Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning

1. Teachers must be willing to dedicate time and effort in utilizing this strategy since they are responsible for establishing a cooperative environment, structuring lessons and creating the conditions within which cooperative learning is implemented.
2. Because many or most students have a competitive orientation, students will not be accustomed to working together, and there may be conflict or problems that arise in cooperative groups. These may include an unwillingness to work with others or specific individuals, free loaders or group members who don’t do their share of the work, conflicts due to different opinions and values, difficulty in communication, and lack of problem-solving skills.
3. Grading or rewarding student’s achievement based on group performance may be problematic. If one student does not fulfill his or her responsibilities, other members of the group may be penalized.
4. Most proponents of cooperative learning suggest that groups should be heterogeneous groups comprised of mixed ability students. Some advocates for gifted students believe that these students are held back when assigned to work with lower ability students or students with learning disabilities and that gifted students take on added responsibilities to work with students who are less capable.

Implementation Guidelines

The Teacher’s Role

The teacher’s role in a cooperative learning lesson has been described as “multifaceted” (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994) and may be perceived as quite different from the role of a teacher in a traditional teacher-centered classroom where the teacher is considered the expert or the disseminator of knowledge and students are passive recipients. In cooperative learning the teacher is viewed as a facilitator or classroom manager who structures the lesson based on the five essential elements and then acts as a “guide on the side” (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994).

Roles and tasks that teachers assume in cooperative learning include the following:

1) Specifying the instructional objectives and criteria for success:

Prior to the lesson, teachers must identify the academic (cognitive) objectives for students as well as the affective or social skill objectives (interpersonal and small-group skills) that will be emphasized and utilized during the lesson. In addition, teachers must make decisions regarding the criteria to be used to evaluate student performance. They must also decide how to collect information or data needed to make judgments about student achievement. Group accountability as well as individual accountability are equally important, and teachers must thoughtfully devise methods to assess each of these.

2) Making pre-instructional decisions:

Determine the size of groups: There are a number of factors that will influence how many students will be assigned to a group including

• The number of students in the class
• The objectives of the lesson
• The group task or assignment
• The number of jobs needed to complete the assignment
• Time allotted to complete the assignment
• Materials and equipment available
• Characteristics of the students and their experience in working in groups

There is no recommended or ideal size for a cooperative learning group, but in general, “the smaller the better” since larger groups often create management problems while smaller groups require less time to get organized and are usually more productive (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

Cooperative learning groups typically range in size from two to four, with three to four members being the preferable size. Although groups may be as large as nine or ten, for optimum participation it is recommended that there should be no more than five members per group.

Determine the composition of the groups: More important than the number of people in a group is who is in the group and why (Wong & Wong, 2001). When forming groups, most authorities advocate for cooperative groups that are heterogeneous in terms of: academic ability, gender, ethnicity, personality characteristics, social skills, or a combination of these factors. Grouping one above-average student with two average-ability students and one below-average student is an effective method of forming groups.

While there are a variety of ways that can be used to group students (i.e., counting off, grouping by learning style or test grades, or by asking students to list three classmates they would like to work with then placing them in a group with one person from that list), diversity can best be achieved by teacher-selected groups as opposed to student-selected groups since this last method usually results in homogeneous groups comprised of students who are very similar.

Groups that are formed by the teacher assures that isolated students, unmotivated students, or students who lack social skills are part of a learning group and that within groups, there are students from a variety of backgrounds and abilities working together. The benefits of heterogeneous groups include higher-level learning, an appreciation for other’s perspectives and opinions, and exposure to different problem-solving methods as well as the development of relationships and friendships that wouldn’t normally occur in the classroom.

In today’s classroom, diversity among students is the norm, particularly with regard to ethnic or racial background, language spoken, and family composition. In a seemingly homogenous group of students (i.e., a Child Development class of 10th grade girls), there will be differences in academic ability, personality, interpersonal skills, and personal interests to name a few. It is the responsibility of the teacher to ascertain differences among students and create groups that reflect these various characteristics.

While heterogeneous groups comprised of students who do not share common attributes and abilities are preferred, homogeneous groups do have a place in cooperative learning. Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec (1994) suggest that a teacher utilize homogeneous groups with regard to ability when teaching specific skills or to achieve certain instructional objectives. In a family and consumer sciences classroom, homogeneous groups could be used when teaching the skills associated with draping or flat pattern measurements or when preparing students for a state or national food sanitation certification such as ServSafe® certification.

Arrange the room: The arrangement of the room sets the stage for learning and is important to facilitate group work. Room arrangement should be carefully thought through so that a teacher has easy access to all groups and can monitor the whole classroom easily. The arrangement will depend on the number of students in the class and the number of groups. Groups should be located far enough away from each other so they do not disturb other groups. Within each group, members should sit eye-to-eye and knee-to-knee so they can interact, exchange ideas, share materials, and maintain eye contact in a comfortable environment. Teachers may need to redesign their classroom to create work areas that promote interaction among group members and give students easy access to materials needed for the assignment.

Assign roles: Roles are actions that are needed to maximize student learning and accomplish a group assignment. In cooperative learning, the task or assignment will determine the number of roles (or jobs) needed within each group. Teachers assign a specific role to each student, and students are then expected to carry out the responsibilities of that role. Roles can be rotated among group members until everyone has had several opportunities to perform each role. Examples of roles include facilitator (or leader) – in charge of group progress, recorder – documents the work of the group, resource manager – gathers and organizes materials, checker (or summarizer) – checks for understanding of concepts among the group members, and reporter – shares group progress and findings.

When teachers assign roles, it obligates students to do their share of the work and contribute to the group. This creates interdependence among group members. Teachers can designate jobs to specific students to build on their strengths or help them develop new skills. Students should assume many different roles within cooperative groups to give them varied experiences in a small-group setting.

Decide on instructional materials: The decisions a teacher makes regarding materials can impact cooperation among group members and facilitate group interdependence. Often, it may be important for all group members to have their own materials, but at other times, one set of materials per group will demonstrate that the assignment is to be a joint effort, requiring members to share materials. When students have their own resources (such as a case study), they are likely to work independently. On the other hand, when there is a paucity of materials (such as one computer or answer sheet), students will sit side-by-side and close enough to read, discuss, and complete the assignment. Using a combination of individual and group materials for a lesson is helpful in creating resource interdependence (Johnson & Johnson, 1975; Love, Nelson, Gloeckner, Mallette, Yahnke, 1994).

3) Explaining the task, procedures, and criteria for success to students: 

Teachers must present pertinent information regarding the assignment as well as the procedures to be followed. Clear and specific directions are critical to ensure that students understand what they are to learn and do in their groups. Using appropriate examples followed by questioning and checking for understanding of the assignment will help to facilitate this task.

When teaching procedures, there are several key practices that should be presented, modeled, and rehearsed including:

1. Students should get to work quickly and quietly and remain with their group.
2. Students are responsible for performing their own job (i.e., role) and for assisting group members as they complete the assigned task.
3. When there is a question, the group should answer it among themselves and not depend on the teacher.
4. If a group member needs help, other members should be willing to assist them.
5. If the group cannot answer or agree on an answer to a question, one person should be appointed to raise their hand to solicit help from the teacher.

Teachers must also explain the criteria for success, identifying what is and what is not acceptable work. The level of performance that is expected should be explained with clear details provided about how students will be evaluated. If the end result is to be a group presentation or project, the teacher may explain that there will be a group grade and students must work together to complete the group assignment. If students will be graded on individual performance and mastery, students need to know what measures will be used to determine their grade.

4) Specifying and teaching desired behaviors: 

Teachers must decide what interpersonal and small-group skills to teach and then effectively teach them, either at the beginning of the assignment or as needed. The cooperative skills taught in a lesson depend on what skills students have and how effectively they use them when working with others. Teaching one or two skills at a time is recommended so that students become proficient in using them routinely. According to Johnson & Johnson (1991) there are five steps in teaching cooperative skills:

Step 1:

Help students see the need for the skill: As a teacher observes groups, it is important to note what skills are missing and what students lack specific skills needed to work effectively with others. Teachers should then explain the benefit of using cooperative skills, communicate why these skills are important, and compliment students who are using a specific skill.

Step 2:

Ensure that students understand the skill and know how to engage in it and when to use it: The skill must first be operationally defined according to its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. By using a T-chart students can gain a clear idea of what the skill is and when it should be used. The teacher first asks the class “what the skill would look like” (i.e., nonverbal behaviors) and writes student’s answers on the left side of the chart. Next, the teacher asks the class “what the skill would sound like” (i.e., verbal behavior), writing answers in the form of phrases on the right side of the chart. Using the T-chart information, students’ role-play the skill and practice it in their groups. (See example below).

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Step 3:

Set up repetitive practice situations to encourage mastery of a skill: Teachers must encourage the prolonged use of cooperative skills by assigning specific roles to group members and check that they practice the skill. Teachers should conduct observations and note which groups and individuals are demonstrating the skill.

Step 4:

Ensure that students process and receive feedback on their use of the skill: This can be done by scheduling a regular time for group processing that requires students to discuss, describe, and reflect on their use of a skill within their group.

Step 5:

Ensure that students persevere in practicing the skill: Teachers can do this last step by continually assigning the skill as a group role, giving feedback to students about how frequently and how well they are performing the skill, and reinforcing the use of the skill within the group. Groups can be assigned bonus points for their effort in using cooperative skills.

Examples of Social Skills necessary for cooperative learning:

• Sharing materials
• Praising others
• Encouraging new ideas
• Listening to others
• Respecting the opinions of others
• Supporting others
• Criticizing constructively
• Summarizing information
• Questioning ideas and suggestions

5) Monitoring the effectiveness of cooperative learning groups and intervening as necessary:

As students work in groups, the role of the teacher is to rotate from group to group to monitor their interactions, assess academic progress, and ensure that they are using appropriate interpersonal and small-group skills. Teachers should listen to each group and collect data on the interactions among group members. Observation data should be descriptive, recording what students do while they work together and what they say to promote cooperation and support to others. Observations can be formal using a structured observation instrument or can be informal with brief descriptions of student’s actions and words (Johnson & Johnson, 1991).

During an observation, it may become obvious that intervention is necessary to clarify instructions, review procedures for completing the assignment, elaborate or reteach a concept, or suggest more effective procedures for working together. In this case, immediate feedback or remediation can be provided to correct misunderstandings or teach positive behavior.

It should be noted that teachers should not intervene any more than absolutely necessary, and teachers should never intervene to solve problems or make decisions for a group.

6) Evaluating student achievement

In cooperative learning, student work should be evaluated on a criterion-referenced basis, and it is important to consider group accountability as well as individual accountability. Because students must be evaluated on their success as a group and also as an individual, teachers often assign two grades to each student. This method of grading helps students to realize the importance of working together and that their contributions to the group are as important as doing their own work. A group grade can be given to each member based on the group’s productivity and cooperative work such as a final project, an oral presentation, or a research paper with each member receiving the same grade. To assess the work of individual group members apart from their group work, there are various methods a teacher can use including: individual tests or quizzes, assignments, randomly asking individual members to explain an answer or share what they learned. Teachers are responsible for assessing every individual’s progress and performance frequently (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

7) Processing group effectiveness:

Group processing is done to analyze how well each group is functioning and how well they are using collaborative skills (Johnson & Johnson, 1991). The teacher plays a major role in directing this process which can be done individually, in small groups, and with the whole class. Each student and each group must provide feedback (and receive feedback) on their work and the actions that were effective in achieving the academic and affective objectives. Teachers may use a processing sheet that requires students to indicate their thoughts and suggestions. For whole class processing, teachers can lead a discussion of the progress and work that occurred in each group. Processing may occur during the last 10 minutes of class or for a longer period of time once a week. For small-group processing, group members can be asked to “identify three things your group is doing well to facilitate learning,” or “share one thing your group could improve upon.” Setting goals for future improvement is a key component in group processing.

Do’s and Don’ts for the teacher

Do:

1. Begin with only one class using a lesson that is familiar. Assign only two or three students to each group.
2. Complete detailed planning with clear directions for the assignment and specific procedures to follow.
3. Monitor groups while they work, and if possible, use a formal evaluation sheet to provide concrete data, focusing on positive behaviors.
4. Challenge groups to solve their own problems by coming up with possible solutions
5. End each lesson by asking students to summarize the key points of the lesson and what they learned.
6. Require groups to stay together for as long as necessary to ensure they work together effectively and successfully (this may last until the completion of an assignment or a unit or fo an entire semester or year).
7. Reward individuals and groups for the successful completion of their work.

Don’t: 

1. Allow students to form their own cooperative groups.
2. Assume that students will know how to interact and work well together as a team.
3. Overload students by teaching more social skills than they can learn or practice at one time.
4. Intervene in group work anymore than necessary.
5. Switch groups when students have differences of opinion or can’t get along.
6. Wait until group work is completed to monitor and provide feedback to students about their progress and use of social skills.
7. Assume that introducing cooperative learning will be easy.

The Student’s Role

Students have several primary responsibilities:

1. To learn the assigned material, participate with others, and complete the assignment.
2. To ensure that all other group members learn the assigned material and complete the assignment.
3. To practice and acquire interpersonal and small group skills.
4. To provide feedback on their own work and the work of their group.
5. To support and encourage their peers.

Implementation of the Strategy

Cooperative learning can be used as an instructional strategy in every subject area in any grade with any level of student (Johnson, Johnson, & Houblec, 1994). Furthermore, it provides experiences that can be expanded across content areas. Using cooperative groups to study and read materials, research information, prepare for tests, explain concepts, summarize reading assignments, or to get feedback from peers in cooperative writing and editing pairs are some of the recommended ways to implement cooperative learning. It can also be used to help students discover knowledge and teach what they’ve learned to others in the group.

In family and consumer sciences, cooperative learning works especially well for lessons that require or lend themselves to working in teams or groups, such as food laboratories (Chamberlain and Cummings, 2003). Cooperative groups can also be used when doing hands-on projects, experiments, FCCLA activities, demonstrating practical applications of lesson content, or service learning projects.

Examples of specific courses, lessons, and projects where cooperative groups can be implemented include the following:

Middle School Classes: Explore career clusters with each group investigating career opportunities, academic requirements, and technical skills needed for a specific career.

Child Development Classes: Assign each group to analyze the needs of an area of development (i.e., physical, emotional, social, and intellectual) of pre-school children and then create appropriate activities for meeting the specific developmental need. These activities could then be used and implemented with children in a pre-school setting.

Nutrition: After being assigned to research dietary guidelines for a specific stage in the life cycle (pregnancy, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, late adulthood), groups would locate community resources and programs that provide wellness and nutrition programs for their specific stage and prepare an informational brochure to be shared with individuals and groups in the community.

Money Management or Financial Education classes: Within groups, develop a budget for a specific family based on short-term and long-term goals that are realistic within the current and projected economy. Present the budget and goals to the class for suggestions and feedback.

Interior Design: After investigating sustainable living designs and energy conservation practices in home design, group members would work together to create a living environment project that conserves energy and other resources.

Food Science: Working within groups, research a food preservation method (the purpose, principles, method, equipment needed, types of food suitable for the method), and demonstrate the method to the class.

Hospitality: Explore traditions and foods of another region or country using the Internet and other resources to access information. Plan a menu, prepare a variety of recipes in assigned groups typical of the region or country, and serve to invited guests.

Career Preparation Course: Within groups, research a current or emerging occupation, identifying the academic and technical entry requirements, salary, and benefits. Prepare a fact sheet to be distributed to the class with information about the occupation. Following each group’s presentation, students would investigate several career options based on personal interest and future goals, integrating suggestions and feedback from the group.

Service Learning Projects: Cooperative learning groups can be implemented to advocate for and promote literacy in activities such as conducting a book drive, reading to senior citizens, or initiating a children’s reading program.

Evaluations

Methods for determining strategy effectiveness:

There are many assessments required in cooperative learning lessons that can be used to demonstrate how effective the strategy is in promoting student achievement and success. Through observations and data collection instruments, teachers can determine academic growth and progress of their students and their implementation of social skills.

Observation forms that assess the quality of the group assignment, an individual’s participation in their learning group, how well each student performs the targeted social skills, or how effectively students are working together, can be used to document how students are progressing both individually and in their groups. Having students assess the quality of their individual participation within their cooperative groups as well as their group functioning in general provides further evidence of student achievement in cooperative learning lessons.

Appropriate assessments for student learning:

In cooperative learning, teachers evaluate students on a criteria-referenced basis as opposed to the norm-reference basis commonly used in classrooms.

There are a wide variety of assessments that can be used when evaluating cooperative groups and individual members. Performance based assessments (requiring students to demonstrate a procedure or skill), authentic assessments (where students demonstrate what they’ve learned in a “real-life” context), and total quality learning (continuous improvement of the learning process) are typical methods of assessment used in cooperative learning lessons. Students should be directly involved in assessing their own progress as well as the progress of other’s by providing feedback and giving suggestions to group members (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).

Summary

The ultimate goal of cooperative groups is to make each student a strong individual (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994). By focusing on academic objectives and also on social skill objectives, students work together to maximize the learning of others as well as their own and learn how to succeed individually and with others.

Teachers can modify most any lesson to incorporate the five essential elements that distinguish this strategy from other types of learning groups. While teachers must become knowledgeable about how to implement cooperative learning, most research concludes that the results and positive outcomes derived from cooperative learning lessons greatly benefit all students in the long run and make the effort and time a teacher dedicates to learning this strategy, a worthwhile endeavor (Johnson & Johnson, 1992; 2004; Orlich, Harder, Callahan, Trevisan, Brown, & Miller, 2013).

Check for Understanding

1. Develop a teaching plan for a topic of your choice using a format from this text.
2. State three benefits of cooperative learning for students.
3. Identify a course and a specific lesson where cooperative learning could be implemented. Create a lesson plan incorporating cooperative learning (i.e., describing the assignment, number of members per group, etc.) using the template provided in this chapter.
4. Identify at least five tasks (or roles) of the teacher in cooperative learning.
5. Describe how students are assessed in a cooperative learning lesson.

References

Allison, B.. & Rehm, M. (2007). Effective teaching strategies for middle school learners in multicultural, multilingual learners. Middle School Journal 39(2) 12-18.

Chamberlain, V. M. & Cummings, M. N. (2003). Creative instructional methods for family and consumer Sciences, nutrition, and wellness. NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

Crandall, J. A. (1995). Cooperative language learning and effective factors. In J. Arnold (ed.), Affective language learning (pp. 226-245). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Curtin, E. M. (2009). Practical strategies for teaching English language learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R.T. (1975). Learning together and alone. Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1984). Circles of learning. Washington DC: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R.T. (1990). Social skills for successful group work. Educational Leadership, 47(4), 29-33.

Johnson, D. W.,Johnson, R.T., & Holubec, E.J. (1994). The new circles of learning: Cooperation in the classroom and school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Love, C., Nelson, B., Glieckner, G., Mallette, D., & Yahnke, S. (1994). Teaching strategies to facilitate learning. Ellensburg, WA: Family & Consumer Sciences Education Association.

Orlich, D. C., Harder, R. J., Callahan, R. C.,Trevisan, M. S., Brown, A. H., & Miller, D. E. (2013).Teaching Strategies: A guide to effective instruction (10th ed.) CA: Wadsworth Centage Learning.

Saravina-Shore, M. & Garcia, E. (1995). Diverse teaching strategies for diverse learners. In R. W. Cole (ED.), Educating everybody’s children: Diverse strategies for diverse learners (pp. 47- 74). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Slavin, R. E. (1991). Synthesis of research on cooperative learning. Educational leadership, 48(5), 71-82.

Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Wong, H. & Wong, R. (2001). The first days of school. CA: Mountain View: Harry K. Wong Publications

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About the Author

Dr. Barbara Allison is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Family and Consumer Sciences Education Program at Texas Tech University. During her tenure at Texas Tech she served as the Coordinator of the FCS Student Teaching Program, and she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in methods of teaching, adult education, curriculum, university teaching, and adolescent growth and development. Her research focus was on effective instructional strategies for culturally diverse students and English language learners.

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