Basic Elements in Cooperative Learning

1. Positive Interdependence. This means that the students in the group believe they can work together. The members of the group recognize that there is a need to coordinate efforts to accomplish the tasks that the teachers assign. There is a link among the members that the success of one is the success of all. There are four ways to structure positive interdependence.

a. Establish a positive goal interdependence. Each member's effort should be directed toward the group's goal. The goal should be part of the lesson. A teacher may structure the goal for the group or the group itself may formulate its own goal.

b. Provide a positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcements like rewards can enhance the quality of cooperation among the members of the group. Rewards may be individual or joint rewards. In joint rewards, the teacher considers the group's overall production; individual rewards considers each member's contribution to the group's performance.

c. Promote positive resource interdependence. Positive resource interdependence is created when the members of the group are given a limited resource to be shared by them. For example, one copy of the problem or task is provided to the group.

The students work on the problem or task on scratch paper and share their ideas and insights on the problem. Another example of promoting positive resource interdependence is providing each member a part of the resource or material which they must fit together to form a whole. This is the jigsaw procedure.

d. Create a positive interdependence. Each member should be assigned a role. The roles should complement one another. These roles include that of a reader, recorder, checker, encourager, and elaborator. The reader reads the task/problem to the group. The checker sees to it that each member of the group knows and understands how to go about the task or problems. The encourager gamely persuades the members to participate in the group discussion and planning of ideas and sharing of feelings. The recorder writes down the things discussed in the group. The elaborator explains further the topics discussed and has the responsibility of making the topics more understandable to the members of the group. Assigning roles to the members of the group ensures active participation of each member in the learning process.

2. Face-to-face promotion interaction. It is the result of positive interdependence among the members of the group. If the members of the group are able to encourage and assist one another, in learning a lesson, promotive interaction exists. The generous exchange of needed resources, efficient and effective processing of information and honest and open feedback mechanism to improve the performance or roles and responsibilities are some of the indications of promotive interaction. In cooperative situations,' there is more tutoring and members more frequently help one another than in competitive and individualistic

situations. Competitive situations result in individuals obstructing each other's efforts to achieve, refusing to help, and engaging in antisocial behavior.

3. Individual accountability and personal responsibility. This component entails an assessment of each student's performance, the result of which is given back to the student and the group. The group holds the individual responsible for contributing his fair share to the group's achievement of the goal. It is important that the group knows who among its members would need more assistance and encouragement to perform the tasks assigned.

4. Social Skills. This element of cooperative learning involves the use of interpersonal and small group skills. But the students should be taught these social skills and be motivated to use them in cooperative groups. To achieve common goals, the members of the group must know each other, trust each other, communicate openly with each other, accept and support each other, and resolve conflicts reflectively.

5. Group Processing. It is an act of reflecting on what actions of the group members were helpful and not helpful to the achievement of the goals and deciding on what actions should be changed and continued. The main purpose of group processing is to clarify and improve the effectiveness of the contribution of the members of the group in performing the tasks and achieving the group's goal.

Group processing can take place at two levels; in a small group and in the whole class. In small group processing, the teacher allows time after each class session for the group to discuss how they have performed their assigned tasks that contribute to the attainment of the goal.

Whole class processing includes holding a discussion in front of the class on how the group worked/performed on the tasks that led to the attainment of the goal.

Both the small group and' whole class processing should allow the students a feeling of celebration. The feeling of success and being appreciated for having contributed to the attainment of the groups’ goal encourages the students to work cooperatively with one another.

Likewise cooperative learning demands specific tasks from the teachers. These tasks include:

1. specifying objectives of the lesson;

2. making decisions about placing the students in learning groups before the lesson is taught;

3. explaining the task and goal structure to the students;

4. monitoring the effectiveness of the cooperative learning groups; and

5. evaluating the student's achievement and helping the students discuss how well they collaborate with each other.

Specifying objectives include academic and social objectives. The academic objectives must be specified at the correct level for the students and matched to the right level of instruction

according to a conceptual or task analysis. The social skills objective specified the interpersonal and small group skills to be emphasized during the lesson.

1. size of the group

2. grouping of the students

3. physical setting of the classroom 4. planning instructional materials

5. assigning roles to create interdependence

Structuring of tasks and goals to promote positive interdependence can be accomplished through the following steps:

1. explaining the academic task 2. explaining the criteria for success 3. structuring positive interdependence 4. structuring individual accountability

To be able to monitor and intervene with the learning of the students, the cooperative teacher should monitor the students' behavior to see what they do and do not understand, and check what problems they have in working cooperatively. The cooperative teacher should also assist with the task by clarifying instructions, reviewing important procedures and strategies, and teaching skills related to the task.

Evaluating learning and processing interactions should mark the end of every cooperative learning session. A discussion of how the group worked cooperatively, shared of incidents, reflected on experiences, and determined ways of further improvement will also strengthen group learning.

Researchers confirm the benefits derived from cooperative learning. It promotes active learning - the students learn more when they listen positively. The students are motivated to do more and eventually achieve more. Cooperative learning fosters respect for diversity and improves language skills. It leads to improvement in self-esteem and in social skills. It bonds communication interaction, the sharing of ideas, listening, and decision making.

Cooperative learning is a method that leads to academic success as well as social success;

it is not difficult and expensive to implement.

In cooperative learning, students divide the work among themselves, help one another especially the slow members, praise and criticize one another's efforts and contributions, and receive a group performance score. Of all the cooperative learning arrangements, the two developed by Slavin are most popular: the student team achievement divisions (STAD) and team assisted instruction (TAl). Both arrangements have been found to increase the student achievement, given the proper implementation. In STAD, teams of four or five members (preferably four, which contradict) an earlier statement that groups of four tend to pair off) are balanced by ability, gender, and ethnicity. Students are ranked by previous test scores or grades and divided into thirds or quarters. Each team consists of one student from each of the thirds or

quarters of the class ranking, with extra middle-ranked students becoming the fourth or fifth members. STAD involves five basic steps.

1. The teacher presents the lesson to the whole group in one or two class periods.

2. Team study follows for one or two class periods. Students who have already mastered the material help slower, teammates with it. Drill is stressed, although the students can engage in discussion and questioning. In a group of four students, only two copies of the work sheets and answer sheets are given to each team to encourage team interaction and support. The students can work alone, if they prefer, or in pairs or threes. The team is not finished with the assignment until all members can score 100 percent on a practice quiz.

The students are supposed to give one another explanations, not just check answer sheds and supply answers. The teacher moves around the room to monitor the teams' activities, and provides additional assistance.

3. Class quizzes are given frequently to see if the students have learned the material while in the group. The students return to their assigned seats or move their desks apart for quizzes. The student scores are averaged into a team score, so that group members are more likely to help each other. Quizzes are scored in terms of progress so that slow-performing groups have the opportunity to· gain recognition. The teacher grades the quizzes promptly, or the students may exchange test papers for faster feedback.

4. Recognition is given teams for high average scores or improvement scores. Recognition can be given through bulletin boards, certificates, class newsletters, and letters to parents.

Individuals are also recognized for good performance to maintain motivation, but a balance between individual reward and team accomplishment must be found. Giving too many individual rewards heightens competition and reduces cooperation.

5. Teams are changed every five or six weeks to give the students an opportunity to work with other students and to give the members of low scoring teams a new chance.