This document discusses key principles for employing cooperative learning in the classroom. It covers forming heterogeneous teams of 4 students that can work together over time, creating a will to cooperate through teambuilding and classbuilding activities, using cooperative tasks and rewards, and developing students' social skills. It also provides tips for managing different student types within cooperative groups and ensuring all students benefit from this learning approach.

1. Introduction to
Cooperative Learning
Principles of Teaching

2. Things to Consider when
Employing Cooperative Learning
 Teams
 Will to Cooperate
 Cooperative Management
 Skill to Cooperate
 Students of Different Types
 Some Final Pointers

3. Concept 1: Teams
 What is a cooperative team?
Strong, positive team identity
Four members
Endures over time
Heterogeneous

4. Concept 1: Teams
 How are teams formed?
Variety of methods
Friendships or interests
Random teams
Teacher assigns students to teams
Heterogeneous - maximize the
probability of peer tutoring and improving
cross-race and cross-sex relations

5. Concept 1: Teams
 What is the best way to form teams?
Teacher assignment teams
Can be held together for a long time
Students form a strong team identity
Teams learn to learn together

6. Concept 1: Teams
 What are some problems with other
methods?
Random: The luck of the draw can put four
low achievers on the same team
Friends Choose: Classroom management
problems, leaving someone out

7. Concept 1: Teams
 How big should teams be?
Four members per team
Allows pairs work
Teams of more than four do not lend
themselves to enough participation and they are
harder to manage

8. Concept 2: Will to Cooperate
 Three ways in which the will to
cooperate is created and maintained:
Teambuilding
Classbuilding
Use of cooperative task and reward structures,
including recognition systems

9. Concept 2: Will to Cooperate
 Teambuilding and Classbuilding
Activities for team and classbuilding provide
unique learning experiences not afforded by
traditional exclusive emphasis on academic
content
Found in workplace - should be in classrooms too

10. Concept 2: Will to Cooperate
 Task and Reward Structures
PAT
Cooperative Task Structures - A Group Product
Grading problems?
Improvement Scoring
Team Scores as a recognition system, not a report
card

11. Concept 3:
Cooperative Management
 Room Arrangement
 Quiet Signal
 Teacher and Student Modeling
 Manageable Noise Level
 Efficient Distribution of Materials
 Class Rules and Procedures

12. Concept 4: Skill to Cooperate
 Developing Social Skills
Modeling
Defining
Role-playing

13. Students of Different Types: The
Dominant One
 Assign the dominant student a role that is
less obtrusive
 Rotate the position of leader
 Have each student present material to group
before others may comment

14. Students of Different Types: The
Slow One
 Use jigsaw configuration
 Monitor expert groups carefully so that
correct information is being supplied

15. Students of Different Types: The
Bright, Bored One
 Use differentiated instruction
– All learn same basic material
– Groups are then formed to complete another project
• Let sharp kids soar
• Let slower students continue to learn basic information

16. Some Final Pointers
 Identify clear questions at onset
 Resolve small-group conflicts as soon as
they arise
 Create rubrics to be used for guiding the
learning process and for assessing final
work
 Provide ongoing help for students to reflect
on their progress

17. “What children can do together today; they
can do alone tomorrow.”
Vygotsky, 1962