The fundamentals of cooperative learning

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The fundamentals of cooperative learning
Itis E. Majorana Comenius Genoa November 2004
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Bibliography

• Elisabeth G. Cohen, Organizzare i gruppi
  cooperativi, Erickson, Trento 1999
• Mario Comoglio, Educare insegnando, Las, Roma
  1999
• Mario Comoglio, Insegnare ed apprendere in
  gruppo, Las, Roma 1996
• Johnson e Johnson, Apprendimento cooperativo in
  classe, Erikson, Trento 1996
• Spencer Kagan, Lapprendimento cooperativo
  lapproccio strutturale, Ed lavoro, Roma 2000
• P. Ellerani D. Pavan, Cooperative learning, una
  proposta per lorientamento formativo, Tecnodid,
  Napoli 2003
• Norm Green, testi vari e atti del Convegno di
  S. Miniato aprile 2004- Fondazione per la scuola
  - S. Paolo
• http//www.fondazionescuola.it/accademia/
• http//www.scintille.it
• ??
• Unless otherwise stated, all the material
  featured on these slides is a free adaptation of
  passages taken from the above-mentioned books and
  websites

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Definitions ofcooperative learning

• A cooperative classroom is a heterogeneous set of
  small groups of students who carry out activities
  and create products or projects that require
  individual accountability. The activities have
  also the purpose of developing and improving
  social skills. (Baloche, 1998)
• It is a set of very simple classroom techniques
  (structures) which can be applied to any content
  and allow student interaction. (Kagan, 1994)
• It is a learning/teaching method whose
  significant variable is student cooperation.
  (Comoglio, 1996)

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Some key concepts of cooperative learning

1. Direct teaching of social skills
2. Positive interdependence
3. Face-to-face promotive interaction
4. Individual accountability
5. Review and authentic evaluation

• Basic principles

• How to form them
• How long they should last
• How big they should be
• Group and class building
• Task and rewarding structures
• Group score
• Task structure
• Classroom management

• Groups

• Structures simple techniques which can be
  applied to different contexts

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Classroom management in a well-managed
classroom students learn to manage themselves

• -Time and attention signals
• for the teacher for the students
• - Tables must be arranged so as to allow
  all the students to
• easily see the board - the teacher the
  screen
• easily see and talk to their group mates
• avoid bothering other groups

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Classroom management

• MAKE SURE YOU
• Set classroom rules
• Give clear instructions on paper and on
  audiovisual material
• Give positive attention praise the students who
  work well! And set them as an example (however do
  not reproach the students who do not work
  properly)
• Ask only group questions first have group mates
  look for the answer
• Manage the classroom simultaneously
• Create symbols to identify the groups
• Present individual challenges

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How to form groupsa number of typologies

• Heterogeneous groups according to sex,
  attitudes, culture, ethnic background, skills,
  academic results
• Tools for forming the groups include
• The wheel by Sheila Silversides (Edmund
  Partridge School, Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada)
• The sociometric approach by Susan Masterse
  Lucille Tambara (Diamond Bar California)
• Random groups
• Interest groups
• Homogeneous language
• groups

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Here is an example..
Five finger activity On a coloured sheet of
paper draw the shape of your hand Time 1
minutes (take care not to get dirty!!) and
then Write into the fingers
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Five Finger Activity
Best Team you have worked with (IIIfinger)
Favourite music (II finger)
What I like about my school? (IVfinger)
Food I like the most (Ifinger)
Expectation for the future!! (V finger)
Time 2 minutes
Your name
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Three steps interview

• And now
• At my signal
• Stand up and go around the room holding your
  sheet of paper in your hands
• At my signal
• Stop and interview the person next to you first
  A interviews B and then B interviews A record
  what your partner has said (listening actively)
  time 2 minutes
• At my signal
• Share what you have learnt with another pair
  (group of 4). Attention! A talks about B and
  viceversa time 2 minutes

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Random groups are formed !?please sit together
around a table
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-Building the group-present activities to

• Get them to know each other these activities
  allow students to feel accepted by their peers
  and build
• a feeling of ease and a sense of
  belonging to the group
• 2) Establish group and class identity
• name, logo, motto the sense of belonging
  to the
• group increases if the group has a real
  opportunity
• to complete the assigned task
• 3) Teach mutual support the group is stronger
• when members feel they can count on each
  others support

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-Building the group-present activities to

• Promote diversity different skills can
• be the group strength.
• Develop and promote group synergy
  let students experiment
  directly that
• a group product can be better than an
• individual product when individuals
• work cooperatively. There is a wide
• variety of activities

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BASIC PRINCIPLES
Equal participation
Positive interdependence
Face-to-face interaction
A complex product
Heterogeneity and status control
Cooperative learning
Teaching social skills
Individual accountability
Simultaneous interaction
Context
Review and authentic evaluation
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Simultaneous interaction

• J.Goodlad has demonstrated
• that, on average, the talking time
• of a traditional teacher accounts for 80 of
  lesson time and less than 20 is left to the
  students.
• It does not seem so harmful that students have 10
  minutes to talk every 50 minutes
• However it must be borne in mind that this period
  of time is to be divided by 25 students i.e. 24
  seconds per student!!!
• We should not be surprised that students find
  traditional methodology boring!!!

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Simultaneous interaction
Kagan explains that simultaneous interaction in
the classroom gives students the chance to
actively participate simultaneously. This
strongly enhances motivation and involvement.
2 interactions are possible in a group of 2
students
6 interactions are possible in a group of 3
students
12 interactions are possible in a group of 4
students
Dn,k n!/ (n-k)
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Equal participation
How can we have equal participation? Has
anyone got the same chance to take part in the
learning process?
Participation is closely connected to academic
achievement those who actively participate in
the process learn more and achieve better results
How to promote equal participation -Give turns
Set a participation rule that allows everyone to
give their own individual contribution -Divide
the task each student is responsible for a part
of the task. Individual potentials are thus
developed
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Individual accountability

• The variable making cooperation effective is the
  sense of personal accountability towards the
  others.
• Therefore in each activity it is essential that
  students
• complete their work
• facilitate the others work
• support their efforts

• In order to sharpen the sense of individual
  accountability, the teacher can
• monitor
• assign roles
• use appropriate structures

Individual accountability encompasses three
areas results, participation and listening
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Structuring individual accountability

•  Results
• Colour code individual contributions
• Group scores based on individual scores
• Give groups time to reflect on individual
  progress and role performance
• Assign and evaluate complementary minitopics
• Use structures like Numbered heads together.
•  Participation
• Use tokens
• Have students summarise their participation
• Give students time to reflect on their
  participation
• Listening.
• Use Paraphrase passport and Three step interview
• Have students share ideas heard from others
  Ive heard that

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Review and authentic evaluation

• Review and meta-analysis
• At the end of an activity each group mate should
  have the chance to reflect on and discuss
• How they have achieved their results
• How they have carried out the activity
• If they have reached their goals
• If their relationships have been effective and
  useful
• What actions taken by the group mates have been
  useful or useless in the decision-making process
  what actions should be repeated or changed

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Review and authentic evaluation

• Authentic evaluation
• Students will be directly and constantly involved
  in monitoring their learning
• They contribute to the preparation of
• tests
• They use their test results to set new goals and
  correct mistakes
• They are proud of and satisfied with both
  individual and group results

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Positive interdependencethe heart of
cooperative learning

• A definition
• It is the perception that you are linked with
  others in such a way that you cannot succeed
  unless they succeed (and viceversa) their work
  benefits you and your work benefits them.
• If there is positive interdependence, students
  feel they are on the same side and therefore
  they will behave cooperatively.
• There are several strategies to structure
  positive interdependence

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Positive interdependence 9 types

• 1.      goal interdependence a common purpose
  is established. One achieves if all achieve.
• 2.      reward interdependence all group mates
  receive the same reward if every group mate
  succeeds
• 3.      resource interdependence
  one set of material per
  group
  
• 4.      role interdependence
  
  each member is assigned a
• complementary and interconnected
• role, like in football

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Positive interdependence 9 types

• 5. sequence interdependence the overall
  task is divided into sub-units and performed in a
  set order
• 6.      simulation interdependence group
• mates work through a hypothetical
• situation to succeed and/or survive
• 7.      outside force interdependence time
• limits
• 8.      environmental interdependence space
  limits
• 9.      identity interdependence group mates
  establish a mutual identity through group name,
  logo, motto, flag, song

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BASIC PRINCIPLES
Positive interdependence Johnson
Face-to-face interaction Johnson
Review and authentic evaluation Comoglio
Teaching social skills Johnson
Individual accountability Johnson
Cooperative learning
A complex product Cohen
Heterogeneity and status control Comoglio
Simultaneous interaction Kagan
Equal participation Kagan
Context Kagan
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What are social skills?

• Social skills are a set of cognitively controlled
  and motivated behavioural patterns that allow a
  person to effectively start, develop and maintain
  a good relationship with others and with the
  surrounding environment.
• Social competence is the integration of a
  coherent set of social skills favouring a good
  relationship and interaction with the others.

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Direct teaching of social skills a contribution
to the students existential competence
(savoir-être).

• Social skills are not innate. So they can be
  identified, taught and learnt through appropriate
  complex tasks or specific activities.
• Cooperative learning includes the direct teaching
  of the social skills that students need to
  successfully work with their peers.

From the website http//www.scintille.it/
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From the website http//www.scintille.it/

• If social skills are not taught, teachers cannot
  expect their students to be able to interact
  effectively.
• When cooperative learning groups have been
  working together for a long time or have been
  doing complex activities, the social skills
  become the decisive factor for the success of the
  group.
• Ineffective communication does not only affect
  friendship but
• also information exchange, resource exchange and
  feedback
• quality.

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Social skills

• There is an extensive literature on the topic
• Johnson e Johnson, 1991 (4 categories)
• Bennet, Rolheiser e Stevahn, 1991 (a list of 55
  items)
• Gibbs, 1994 (diagram)
• Comoglio, 1999 (5 categories)

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Social competence a set of competences
5 Problem-solving competence
4 Decision-making competence
3 Conflict resolution competence
2 Distributed leadership competence
1 Communicative competence
Competence a set of skills
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1 Communicative competenceSome communication
skills

• Expressing feelings
• Listening actively
• Listening carefully and respectfully
• Being assertive in acceptable ways
• Offering and asking for help
• Praising and encouraging
• Communicating in a concise, other-centred and
  persuasive
• way
• Taking turns and reflecting before speaking
• ..

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2 Social competenceDistributed leadershipIt
takes a lot of qualities to be a good leader
one single person cannot have all of them a
lot of people can have some

• Relationship-oriented skills
• Encouraging participation
• Facilitating communication
• Intervening to relieve tensions
• Observing the process
• Solving interpersonal problems
• Showing acceptance and giving rewards

• Task-oriented skills
• Giving information and opinions
• Asking for information and
• opinions
• Assigning roles
• Summarising sequences of talking
• turns
• Putting forward new plans
• Checking for understanding

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3 Social competenceConflict resolutionhow to
resolve conflicts

• Be willing to discuss what causes the conflict
• Identify needs, goals and what you expect from
  the other party
• Discuss the problem and not the person
• Understand the other partys point of view
• Invent solutions which benefit both parties
• Suggest solutions which meet with everyones
  interests and
• needs
• Reach an agreement which completely satisfies
  both parties

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4 Social competenceDecision making

• Work together coordinating the available
  resources in all the steps of the decision-making
  process
• Evaluate the best alternative
• Avoid decision-making mistakes
• Have a wide range of decision-making strategies
• Plan the implementation of the best alternative
• Coordinate goals and solutions
• Anticipate potential obstacles
• Remove the causes of the obstacles and prepare
  special action plans to deal with the obstacles

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5 Social competenceProblem solving

• Work together coordinating the available
  resources in all
• the steps of the problem-solving process
• Define the problem together
• Have a wide range of strategies to define the
  problem
• Realise that you have sufficient group resources
  to
• overcome the difficulties caused by the
  problem
• Invent alternative solutions
• Have a wide range of strategies to invent new
• alternatives

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What and How many skills should be taught?
D.W. Johnson R.T. Johnson and Holubec suggest
teachers should not teach many skills at the
same time. They should start with one or two.
those skills that the teachers (or a teachers
committee) consider absolutely necessary for the
task they want the students to carry out in a
specific context and time
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How to teach social skills

• First
• PLAN the 5 steps carefully
• Then
• MONITOR
• To check acquisition and lead to reflection
• Lets explore the 5 steps in detail

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• Generate motivation help students understand the
  need to have a specific social skill
• Show students the behavioural patterns expressing
  the social skill they are asked to apply there
  are several tools to do that
• T-chart
• Modelling
• Role-play
• Simulation
• Presenting a problem
• Offer, organise and plan situations to practise
  the skills
• Make sure that students reflect on how they have
  used the skills
• Make sure that students keep practising the skill
  they have just learnt

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"T-CHARTS" a strategy to monitor social skills
and describe them objectively
It is one of the most commonly used techniques
because it is easy to use. Building a T-chart
with the students means creating a table
The social skill you intend to teach is written
in the upper part of the table. The social skill
is coded by a series of verbal and non verbal
behavioural patterns. For instance you can ask
the following questions What does a person
look like when he/she is using the listening
skill?" "What does a person sound like when
he/she is using the listening skill?"
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T-charts an example
Skill Encouraging
The behavioural patterns listed in the table must
be expressed in a specific objective and
observable way. Therefore students should not
write down feelings or thoughts because they
refer to internal subjective and unobservable
behavioural patterns. So if students answer the
question What does a person look like when
he/she is encouraging? by saying He/she looks
helpful, then the teacher asks them to be more
specific "What does a person look like when
he/she is helpful?. In this way students will
describe the skill in a specific and observable
way, as if it were a film script.
Non verbal expressions Looks like Verbal expressions Sounds like
Clapping hands Patting on the back Well done! Thats a good idea!
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Structures
Useful ways to organise classes and build special
interpersonal and social relationships/interaction
s among students. They are content-free and can
be applied to any subject or context There are
several types The most significant ones are the
following 4
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Structures-1-
structure description functions and goals
Three step interview Student A and student B interview each other in pairs first A interviews B (first step) and then B interviews A (second step, the interviewer becomes interviewee and viceversa). Students record what their partner has said and then share what they have learnt with another pair (group of 4) (A talks about B and viceversa third step) Listening actively forming random groups getting to know each other and interacting -brainstorming
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Structures-2-
structure description functions and goals
Placemat Students are placed in groups of 3 or 4. Using flip chart paper they create an individual writing area. In the centre students create a circle or square that will contain their group ideas. The teacher identifies the topic and the students write down their ideas for 2 or 3 minutes (no talking or sharing). As a group they will discuss all ideas and reach consensus as to which ideas should represent the group discussion and be recorded in the middle. Listening actively respecting diversity expressing an opinion using quiet voices extending others ideas group synergy individual and group accountability social skills..
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Structures-3-
structure description functions and goals
Jigsaw Each member of the cooperative group (home group) becomes an expert on a specific topic or subtopic. Each member of the group is assigned a portion of the work and works with his/her counterparts from other groups (expert group) to understand/master the material. Each member returns to the home group and teaches his/her group mates the material he/she has mastered. It is a good technique when students have to study a large amount of material in a short time. It promotes active listening, involvement and using quiet voices and empathy. It controls participation. It allows students to share ideas. It teaches how to help and ask for help. It facilitates student interaction.
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Structures-4-
structure description functions and goals
Numbered heads together Students number off (from 1 to 4 if groups are made up of four students..). The teacher asks a question and students confer to make sure everyone knows the answer. Then the teacher calls on one number (from 1 to 4 if groups are made up of 4 students..) and the person with that number answers on behalf of the group. Individual assessment but group accountability. It teaches how to encourage, help and ask for help. It facilitates student interaction. It promotes active listening. Students understand that any group mate may be called on to present the group project, the group discussion, the group analysis, etc.
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Thanks for your attention!!! You deserve a
present!
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bye! bye!
bye! bye!
b y e!
b y e!
see you soon!