Group work must be a time for students to engage in productive and accountable collaboration around a task or problem that causes them to rely on one another's part or participation to ensure successful completion. Successful group work can be designed and presented to the students, following three principles. The first, and most obvious, characteristic of successful group work is to design tasks that cause students to talk with one another, to hear how their peers approach the content and then to be able to compare this with their own approach. Second, the task must provide a stimulus question or problem that causes students to cooperate as they formulate, share, and compare ideas with one another. Finally, all tasks should be broad enough to involve both individual and group accountability (Vaca, Lapp, & Fisher, 2011).
Successful group work can be designed and presented to the students, following three principles. The first, and most obvious, characteristic of successful group work is to design tasks that cause students to talk with one another, to hear how their peers approach the content and then to be able to compare this with their own approach. Second, the task must provide a stimulus question or problem that causes students to cooperate as they formulate, share, and compare ideas with one another. Finally, all tasks should be broad enough to involve both individual and group accountability (Vaca, Lapp, & Fisher, 2011).
This article provides ideas and sample projects for project-based learning (PBL) and describes assessment methods such as rubrics, reflective self-evaluation, peer evaluations, and portfolio assessment. The author gives advice on designing PBL projects across the curriculum and offers strategies for facilitating collaboration among students. There is also material on scaffolding the learning process to differentiate instruction, and on initiating school wide PBL instructional approaches (Project-based learning; differentiating instruction for the 21st century, 2012).
Cooperative learning has been proven to be helpful in enhancing the learning performance of students. The goal of a cooperative learning group is to make the most of all members' learning, which is accomplished by way of promoting each other's achievement, through assisting, sharing, mentoring, explaining, and encouragement. To accomplish the goal of cooperative learning, it is very significant to organize well-structured cooperative learning groups, in which all group members have the capability to help each other throughout the learning process. A concept-based approach is projected to organize cooperative learning groups, such that, for a given course each idea is precisely understood by at least one of the students in each group (Tsai, Hwang, Tseng, & Hwang, 2008).
In a study done by Siegel (2005), the author used qualitative research methods in order to explore an 8th-grade mathematics teacher's personal meaning of cooperative learning and the performance of cooperative learning in his classroom according to that definition. Data collection involved interviews and classroom observations. The author used coding schemes and descriptive statistics for data reduction and analysis. Constructivist psychology provided the theoretical groundwork for conclusions based on reliability across interview and observational data. Results discovered that while the teacher put into practice a research-based model of cooperative-learning instruction, he adapted the model for use in his classroom.
In past decades, cooperative learning researchers have shown that positive peer relationships are an essential element of success during the learning process, and isolation and alienation will possibly lead to failure. Hundreds of relevant studies have been conducted to compare the effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts by a wide variety of researchers in different decades using many different methods. Results have shown cooperation among students typically results in higher achievement and greater productivity, more caring, supportive, and committed relationships, and greater psychological health, social competence, and self-esteem. Even though many researchers have proposed a variety of cooperation learning methods, and have defined various constraints on achieving the expected results, there are however, many complex human factors that cannot be fully controlled during the cooperative learning process, including the construction of cooperative learning groups and the designed activities for the promoting of constructive cooperation, which all are known to be difficult without proper aid (Tsai, Hwang, Tseng, & Hwang, 2008).
One area in which cooperative leaning has been shown to be very effective is in that of language learning. The single greatest advantage of cooperative learning over traditional classroom organization for the acquisition of language was the amount of language output allowed per student. The amount of student talk...
The obvious implication is that the pairing of hands-on, inquiry-based active-learning teaching methods with cooperative learning holds tremendous potential for improved learning and social development of grade school students. Naturally, that would be an appropriate and likely productive area for future research in the area of effective teaching methodologies. Conclusion Cooperative learning has demonstrated tremendous beneficial potential as a modern educational method capable of increasing learning. Evidence also strongly suggests that
390). It seems likely that components of IMPROVE assists the students in learning especially in a mathematical classroom. If this is true, then implementing some or all of the components may be a good choice for educators. Learning how to integrate those components along with the other aspects of cooperative learning will enhance all classrooms and especially "have positive effects on students' mathematical achievement'. Positive achievements is what should
Among the last advantages of cooperative learning in the classroom is the increase in competition that every student experiences as s/he collaborates with other students/teammates in the process of accomplishing a particular task or activity. There is one caveat, however, in stating this observation about cooperative learning: increased competence is induced only in learning processes wherein information used by students are similar or identical with each other (Buchs, 2004:310-1). An
Education Research It appears that the school systems are failing here in America. Every year test score trend downward as a continual new stream of information floods into the public consciousness. More schooling and more intensive schooling efforts have shown little if any progress in recent decades and before any more money or energy is thrown at these problems indiscriminately, a tactical pause to contemplate the situation seems in order. New problems
Size/Cooperative Learning & it's effects on participation Action Research Question Will cooperative learning have a significantly positive impact on smaller or larger classes? The purpose of this study was to investigate if cooperative learning will have a significantly positive impact on smaller or larger classes. In order to have valid results, I used both my largest and smallest classes as my sampling. I also incorporated a variety of teaching styles with cooperative
Feedback should also inform the planning of subsequent lessons and activities and come from a variety of perspectives including the student, classmates, and the teacher (Kirkwood, 2000). Problems with this method of instruction occur when expectations are unclear or feedback is ambiguous, sporadic, or overly negative. Classroom behavioral norms must be established and respected. Care must also be taken to protect and support students from undue ridicule and criticism in
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