BUILDING CONNECTIONS

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Module 3.2 Curriculum and Instruction Cooperative Learning Strategies (CL) Student Workbook

MODULE ALIGNMENT
Competency 001 The teacher designs instruction appropriate for all students that reflects an understanding of relevant content and is based on continuous and appropriate assessment The beginning teacher will: Know and understand the implications of students developmental characteristics for planning appropriate instruction Including: o the rationale for appropriate grade-level education and how schools are structured to address the characteristics and needs of young adolescents the young adolescent years as a transitional stage in which students may exhibit characteristics of both older and younger children and the importance of those years for developing crucial skills and attitudes ( e.g., working and getting along with others, respecting diversity, making a commitment to continued schooling)

different approaches to learning that students may exhibit and what motivates students to become active, engaged learners;

Competency 002 The teacher creates a classroom environment of respect and rapport that fosters a positive climate for learning, equity, and excellence. The beginning teacher will: use strategies to ensure that interactions among students are polite, respectful, and cooperative Including: encouraging cooperation and sharing, teaching children to use language appropriately to express their feelings, using knowledge of the unique characteristics and needs of students to establish a positive, productive classroom environment. (e.g., providing opportunities to collaborate with peers, promoting student awareness of how their actions and attitudes affect others) how to organize student groups to facilitate cooperation and productivity in various settings (e.g., problem-solving teams, group projects, research groups, skits, student-created multimedia presentations)

COOPERATIVE LEARNING
BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
UNDERSTANDING COOPERATIVE LEARNING There is a difference between simply having students work in a group and
structuring groups of students to work cooperatively. A group of students sitting at the same table doing their own work, but free to talk with each other as they work, is not a cooperative group. For a group to be considered a cooperative group, several elements must exist within the group. Each member of the group must have a sense of individual accountability. Each member must perceive they are an important contributor to the group, and, without their interaction and participation, the group would be unlikely to succeed. That means that all students need to know the material for the whole group to be successful. Putting students into groups does not necessarily gain a cooperative relationship; it has to be structured and managed by the teacher. It takes work. Its the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. Its an activity involving a small group of learners who work together as a team to solve a problem, complete a task, or accomplish a common goal. Its developing a task for group discussion and resolution. It requires face-toface interaction, an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual helpfulness, and individual accountability. Describing what cooperative learning is can be very difficult. Sometimes, it is easier to consider what cooperative learning is not! It is not having students sit side-by-side at the same table and talk with each other as they do their individual assignments. It is not having students do a task individually with instructions that those who finish first are to help the slower students. It is not assigning a report to a group where one student does all of the work and the others put their names on the report. And, it is not always using the same grouping strategies because, it worked last week. It is a teaching strategy that requires careful planning. It requires thought in developing the cooperative learning groups. And, it requires substantial effort and consideration for developing an assessment tool that promotes group interaction as well as individual accountability.

Johnson and Johnson, two pioneers in the development and promotion of cooperative learning have developed as set of elements they believe should be incorporated into every lesson. These elements include: 1. Clearly perceived positive interdependence 2. Considerable promotive (face-to-face) interaction 3. Clearly perceived individual accountability and personal responsibility to achieve the groups goals 4. Frequent use of the relevant interpersonal and small-group skills 5. Frequent and regular group processing of current functioning to improve the groups future effectiveness All healthy cooperative relationships have these five basic elements. This is true of peer tutoring, partner learning, peer mediation, adult work groups, families, and other cooperative relationships. These five essential elements are the foundation that should define any cooperative relationship. Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared goals. Within cooperative activities individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and beneficial to all other group members. Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. The idea is simple, but, to be effective, there are many things that must be taken into account. Class members are organized into small groups after receiving instruction from the teacher. They then work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members gain from each other's efforts, recognizing that all group members share a common fate - we all sink or swim together here yet each is held individually accountable is one of the most powerful learning tools available to teachers. In cooperative learning situations there is a positive interdependence among students' goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals. No one group member will possess all of the information, skills, or resources necessary for the highest possible quality presentation. Cooperative learning is a teaching tool and should be used as a tool, not as the basis for how you teach. It is one tool in your repertoire of teaching strategies, like brainstorming, or chaining, or mind-maps, that you can select from. Its important that you have a large repertoire of teaching

tools. But, it is just as important to know which tool or instructional strategy to use for each situation. There are three basic ways students can interact with each other as they learn. They can compete to see who is "best," they can work individualistically toward a goal without paying attention to other students, or they can work cooperatively with a vested interest in each other's learning as well as their own. An interpersonal, competitive situation is characterized by negative goal interdependence where, when one person wins, the others lose; for example, spelling bees or races against other students to get the correct answers to a math problem on the blackboard. In individualistic learning situations, students are independent of one another and are working toward a set criteria where their success depends on their own performance in relation to an established criteria. The success or failure of other students does not affect their score. For example, in spelling, with all students working on their own, any student who correctly spells 90% or more words passes. In a cooperative learning situation, interaction is characterized by positive goal interdependence with individual accountability. Positive goal interdependence requires acceptance by a group that they "sink or swim together." A cooperative spelling class is one where students are working together in small groups to help each other learn the words in order to take the spelling test individually on another day. Each students score on the test is increased by bonus points if the group is successful. In a cooperative learning situation, a student needs to be concerned with how he or she spells and how well the other students in his or her group spell. This cooperative umbrella can also be extended over the entire class if bonus points are awarded to each student when the class can spell more words than a reasonable, but demanding, criteria set by the Of the three interaction patterns, competition is presently the most dominant. Research indicates that a vast majority of students in the United States view school as a competitive enterprise where one tries to do better than other students. This competitive expectation is already widespread when students enter school and grows stronger as they progress through school. While many times teacher place students into groups and call it cooperative learning, the focus continues to be competitive rather than cooperative.

Cooperation among students-who celebrate each others successes, encourage each other to do homework, and learn to work together regardless of ethnic backgrounds or whether they are male or female, bright or struggling, disabled or not, is still rare. Even though these three interaction patterns, competitive learning, individualistic learning, and cooperative learning, are not equally effective in helping students learn concepts and skills, it is important that students learn to interact effectively in each of these ways. Students will face situations in which all three interaction patterns are operating and they will need to be able to be effective in each. They also should be able to select the appropriate interaction pattern suited to the situation. There is a long history of research on cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts. Since the first research study in 1898, nearly 600 studies have been conducted. The multiple outcomes studied can be classified into three major categories: achievement/productivity, positive relationships, and psychological health. The research clearly indicates that cooperation, compared with competitive and individualistic efforts, typically results in (a) higher achievement and greater productivity, (b) more caring, supportive, and committed relationships, and (c) greater psychological health, social competence, and self-esteem. The positive effects that cooperation has on so many important outcomes makes cooperative learning one of the most valuable tools educators have. As educators, we often fool ourselves when we thank that directives to "work together," "cooperate," and "be a team," will be enough to create cooperative efforts among group members. Placing students in groups and telling them to work together does not result in cooperation. Not all groups are cooperative. Sitting in groups, for example, can result in competition at close quarters or individualistic effort with talking. However, when a true cooperative group is formed, and cooperative learning is taking place, the positive outcomes for the student and you, the teacher, can be substantial. Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, typically 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. This creates an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.

Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members: gain from each other's efforts; recognize that all group members share a common fate; know that each members performance is the result of their individual effort and the effort of the group; strives to reach success, and, celebrates when a member reaches success; and are held accountable for individual success in addition to group success. Significant numbers of research projects have demonstrated a positive relationship between cooperative learning and student outcomes. Cooperative learning, when implemented effectively: promotes student learning and academic achievement ; increases student retention of information; enhances student satisfaction with their learning experience and with the teacher; helps students develop skills in oral communication; develops students' social and conflict resolution skills; promotes student self-esteem; and helps to promote positive relationships with diverse ethnic, academic, and social groups.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING
SAMPLE CLASSROOM
WORKING CLASSROOM
We have established a working classroom with twelve students. These students all have varied backgrounds, skill sets, competencies, and learning needs. They represent the types of students you will have in your classroom. The students we selected for this module are middle school aged. Strategies you would consider for elementary or secondary will typically work well with middle school students.

READING THE PROFILE

Each profile has been broken into four major areas: A Demographics describes their gender, age, ethnicity, and SES status; B / C Academic Information describes how the student did on standardized tests. The CAT score is the grade / month the student tested at. 8.0 would be average for an 8th grader. Behavioral Information describes the number of office referrals in the past 24 months. D Special Information Specific information that would be found in the permanent folder, their special education records, or notes from other teachers. DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

SAMPLE, JANE

Gender: F Age: 15 Parent(s): Jill Johnson (Grandmother)

Ethnicity: White SES - Free Lunch: (Yes)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION
TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 2.1 CAT: 7.3 C TAKS SCIENCE (Failed) B TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION
Office Referrals: 12

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Jane is a first year student at Sample ISD. She has been served in the special education program for the past five years, and was exited from special education in 2008. Jane struggles with comprehension and needs to sit near the front of the room with limited distractions. When Jane D becomes frustrated, she will become disruptive.

BANKS, ALISHA

Gender: F Age: 15 Parent(s): Jill Johnson (Grandmother)

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: White SES - Free Lunch: (Yes)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION
TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 2.1 CAT: 7.3 TAKS SCIENCE (Failed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION
Office Referrals: 12

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Alicia is an 8th grade student who is easily distracted. She can stay focused for short periods of time, but when a lengthy assignment is given she will fade out and not complete it. She is not a behavior problem. When Alicia is assigned 20 math problems she will usually stop at ten. However, she shows mastery of the material with those 10 problems. When graded for 20 problems she will fail because she will only have only completed 50%. Her grade will not reflect that Alicia has met the standard.

CASPER, JACOB

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Gender: M Age: 14 Parent(s): Elroy and Salima Casper) Ethnicity: Other SES - Free Lunch: (No) TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION
TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.2 CAT: 8.2

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION
Office Referrals: 32

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Jacob is a diligent, hard worker whose grades matter very much to him. He stays focused and on-task, but many times he cannot finish the work in the time allotted. He understands the material well, but when graded on work completed in a specific time period it will appear he has not mastered the standard. Jacob tends to get in trouble when he gets frustrated. Jacob has been identified with ADHD.

ESPAN, HECTOR

Gender: M Age: 14 Parent(s): Maria Espan TAKS ENGLISH (Failed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.5 CAT: 8.1 Office Referrals: 00

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ACADEMIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: Hispanic SES - Free Lunch: (Yes) TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Failed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Its hard for Hector to concentrate when the teacher is giving direct instruction in front of the room. He needs to be doing something active to stay focused. Hector was served in a Bilingual classroom through fourth grade, and an ESL classroom for the past three years. This is his first year in a traditional classroom.

FLEM, MATTHEW

Gender: M Age: 14 Parent(s): Jill and Jim Flem (mom / dad) TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 2.9 CAT: 8.9 Office Referrals: 9

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: White SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Matthew is a student with a visual impairment who has difficulty reading traditional text. Matthew has moved three times in the past two years. Although not identified as homeless, many suspect he is.

FLICK, DONNA

Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Donna and Dan Flick (mom / dad) TAKSM ENGLISH (Passed) TAKSM MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.5 CAT: 4.4 Office Referrals: 00

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: African American SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

TAKSM SCIENCE (Passed) TAKSM WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Donna, is a student who is severely developmentally delayed and is fully included in most classrooms. Donna has difficulty processing information and usually takes much longer than her peers.

HATCH, TERRI

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Gender: F Age: 15 Ethnicity: White Parent(s): Sally and Mark Klinger (mom /dad) SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION
TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 2.1 CAT: 7.3 Office Referrals: 12

TAKS SCIENCE (Failed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Terri, a student with learning disabilities. Terri has difficulty processing information into long-term memory. Terri works hard to overcome her disability, often skipping sports practice to stay for tutorials.

HERNANDEZ, IDA

Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Selina Gonzaga (Grandma) TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.9 CAT: 8.8 Office Referrals: 3

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: Hispanic SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Ida moved to the district three years ago from California with her grandmother. Grandmother is the legal guardian. Ida is a quick learner and loves to read books. Ida is in the band but does not appear to be friends with the other band members. Ida is shy and does not sit with anyone during lunch.

JONES, ZACH

Gender: M Age: 13 Parent(s): Jill and Bill Jones (mom / dad) TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.2 CAT: 8.1 Office Referrals: 8

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: African American SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Failed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Zach has is a popular student with many friends. He is often the center of attention. Zach has been known to pick on other students, but is never disrespectful. Zach is a good student who could do significantly better if he applied himself more. Academics are natural for Zach.

LOPEZ, SARAH

Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Janet Lopez (mom) TAKS ENGLISH (Failed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 2.1 CAT: 7.7 Office Referrals: 1

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ACADEMIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: Hispanic SES - Free Lunch: (Yes)

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Failed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Sarah has great difficulty with written assignments. When asked to demonstrate by written work, her reading comprehension of the content material, Sarah will not do it. However she is very verbal and when asked to tell about what she has read, she responds articulately and shows comprehension of the material. Sarah is also very artistic and creative. Sarah has many friends. She is kind to other students.

MATA (SILL), BETH

Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Mary and Guadalupe Mata

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: White SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION
TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 2.3 CAT: 6.8 TAKS SCIENCE (Failed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION
Office Referrals: 1

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Beth is a student with Developmental Disabilities. She is fully included in general education classes, but is unable to grasp all the concepts required in her math class. Beth has a large multicultural family including two step brothers and a step sister.

MATA, MARIA

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Mary and Guadalupe Mata TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Passed) GPA: 3.9 CAT: 9.2 Office Referrals: 00 Ethnicity: Hispanic SES - Free Lunch: (No)

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION SPECIAL INFORMATION

Maria is an active member of the Jr. National Honor Society and has been identified as GT (Gifted and Talented). She has been an honor roll student every semester. Maria participates in after-school sports (track and field, cheerleading, drill team). Maria is very popular and seems well adjusted. Maria has a large multicultural extended family including two brothers, and a step sister.

ORTIZ, KAREN

Gender: F Age: 14 Parent(s): Stephanie and D. Nguyen

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ACADEMIC INFORMATION

Ethnicity: Other SES - Free Lunch: (No)

TAKS ENGLISH (Passed) TAKS MATH (Failed) GPA: 1.9 CAT: 7.7

TAKS SCIENCE (Passed) TAKS WRITING (Passed)

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION
Office Referrals: 28

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Karen has ADHD and has serious problems staying focused and on-task. She will begin a task, but very quickly will lose her focus and become disruptive. When her behavior is pointed out to her, she can redirect her attention and continue with the task Karen often dresses in Goth. Students often call her Emo. Karen sees a psychologist for eating disorders and depression. In 7th grade, Karen brought a weapon to school and was telling students she was going to end her life.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING
STUDENT WORKBOOK
SECTION NOTES
Use the space below to take notes as you complete each section of this module. SECTION 1 (LEARNING STRATEGIES): Key Points: Nine essential strategies. What they are, how to use, and when to use.

SECTION 2 (COOPERATIVE LEARNING OVERVIEW): Key Points: Competitive Learning, Individual Learning, Cooperative Learning

SECTION 3 (ELEMENTS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING): Key Points: Essential elements that must be mastered for cooperative learning to be effective

SECTION 4 (IMPACT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING): Key Points: Cooperative learning strategies that can be employed with different learning communities

SECTION 5 (IMPLEMENTATION): Key Points: Six principals of implementation. curriculum to strategy and engaging all students.

Specifically, matching

SECTION 6 (STRATEGIES): Key Points: Being able to select the right strategy for the right situation.

SECTION 7 (TAKE WITH YOU): Key Points: Classroom, Teacher Exams, Interview.

ACTIVITY 1 BUILDING UNDERSTANDING

Use the space below to answer each of the following questions.

STATEMENT PART 1 Question 1 When would you use a graphic organizer?

YOUR RESPONSE

Question 2 Why is setting and explaining your objective important? Question 3 Name three ways you can have students take notes PART 2 Question 4 Use the Internet, a dictionary, or other resource to define the following:
1) cooperative learning 2) competitive learning 3) individual learning

Question 5 Describe three learning situations that you think cooperative learning would be an effective strategy.

ACTIVITY 2 SKILL SETS

For this activity use the sample class included in the packet. In the space below, develop a list of skill sets you would need to teach your class before implementing cooperative learning. Describe how you would teach the skill. COOPERATIVE LEARNING SKILLS
Skill Strategy for teaching the skill

ACTIVITY 3 KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS

In the space below, develop cooperative learning groups by placing the names of students (from the sample classroom) in the box. The objective you are trying to meet listed above the box. You decide how many students should be in each group and how many groups should be created. There is space for four groups, but all four do not need to be utilized. FOCUS: Cultural Diversity COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS
Group 1
Member Names

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

FOCUS: Peer Tutoring COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS

Group 1
Member Names

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

FOCUS: Informal Group for Testing Theories COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS

Group 1
Member Names

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

ACTIVITY 4 LEVELS

Use the space to record which cooperative learning strategy you would use for the following situations, why you would use the strategy, who would be a key member of the group, and how you would assess the learning. BEGINING COOPERATIVE LEARNING ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

DIFFICULT CONCEPT OR SKILL (ONE TIME) ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

BUILD EXCITEMENT IN A NEW TOPIC ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 5 STRATEGIES YOU CAN USE

Use this form to develop a set of strategies you can use to in your classroom (base this on your certification) to help all students reach success while in a cooperative learning group. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

COMMUNICATE IN AN INTERVIEW ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

COOPERATIVE LEARNING
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
The following sources were used in the development of this module. For more detailed information about cooperative learning, consider investigating these sources. Cobb, George (1992), "Teaching Statistics," in Heeding the Call for Change: Suggestions for Curricular Action, ed. L. Steen, MAA Notes, No. 22. Dietz, E. J. (1993), "A Cooperative Learning Activity on Methods of Selecting a Sample," The American Statistician, 47, 104-108. Johnson, D., Johnson, R., and Smith, K. (1991), Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4, Washington, DC: The George Washington University. McKeachie, W., Pintrich, P., Yi-Guang, L., and Smith, D. (1986), Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature, Ann Arbor: Regents of the University of Michigan. David and Roger Johnson. "Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October 2001. <http://www.clcrc.com/pages/cl.html>. David and Roger Johnson. "An Overview of Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October 2001. <http://www.clcrc.com/pages/overviewpaper.html>. Howard Community College's Teaching Resources. "Ideas on Cooperative Learning and the use of Small Groups." [Online] 15 October 2001. <http://www.howardcc.edu/profdev/resources/learning/groups1.htm>. Kagan, S. Kagan Structures for Emotional Intelligence. Kagan Online Magazine. 2001, 4(4). http://www.kaganonline.com/Newsletter/index.html