Cooperative Learning
Does this really work?
Kelly Jordan became interested in using cooperative learning in her fourth grade
classroom after reading an article about it on a teacher website. She mentioned her
interest to some of her colleagues at Jefferson Elementary School and found that
several of them had used cooperative learning with some success. That’s when Kelly
decided to give it a try herself. She looked over the science curriculum she would be
teaching during the next grading period and decided on the solar system as her topic.
Kelly began planning her lessons for the cooperative unit. She knew her
students needed to support each other in teams as they learned, but she wasn’t sure
how to ensure that this happened. Kelly asked her colleagues about how they planned
their cooperative units, but no one gave her very clear explanations. “I guess the best
way to learn is to try,” Kelly told herself while she read the teacher’s edition of the
science text she was using.
Finally, the day to being the cooperative unit arrived. “Class, today we’re going
to try something new. Instead of me doing all the teaching, you’re going to help each
other learn,” Kelly told her students. “The first thing we need to do is get into groups of
three or four. These will be our cooperative learning groups. At first I though about
assigning groups, but I thought you might do better if you teamed with people you know.
Go ahead and find two or three students you would like to work with. After you’ve found
your group, decide on a team name. You have 5 minutes to form and name your
groups.”
Kelly circulated throughout the room while the students were forming their teams.
She had to help settle a few disputes among students. She also found that in some
cases groups wound up with 5 members. Kelly decided to allow students to keep the
larger groups rather than breaking them into smaller teams. She also had to help
students who remained isolated and other who couldn’t find partners join existing
groups or form teams of their own.
When most of the class had formed groups, Kelly said, “Here’s what we’ll be
doing for this unit. We’re going to be learning about the planets in the solar system. I
know many of you know something about the topic, but we’re going to learn more about
the planets individually and about the solar system as a whole.”
“I want everyone to begin by reading Chapter 8 in your science book. After you
read the chapter, I want each person to write some facts about different planets. Then
you’ll share your facts with your team members and see if you can figure out which
planet the facts describe. Tomorrow, we’ll continue this with a group quiz. Since we’re
using cooperative learning, you’ll be allowed to help each other on the quiz and
everyone in the group will get the same grade on this assignment. Any questions?
Michael?”
“What are we supposed to do in the groups? I don’t think I understand.”
“First, you’re going to read Chapter 8 about the solar system. Then you’re going
to write facts about the different planets share them with your team members. Any
other questions? No? Then let’s get into our groups and get started.”
Kelly walked around among the groups as they starting the assignments. She
noticed that some groups—composed mostly of her A and B students—began working
right away, while other groups were slower getting started. Kelly worked with the
groups and repeated her directions. After about 10 minutes, most of the groups were
working well. Kelly was encouraged. “Hmm,” she thought, “maybe this is going to
work.”
The next day, Kelly began the science lesson by saying, “Class, yesterday you
did a nice job learning facts about the different planets. To help you practice for the
quiz today, I have an activity in which you will identify planets by different facts about
them. This is the same thing you’ll do on the group quiz at the end of the lesson. So
get to work, and I’ll be here to answer any questions if you need help.”
Kelly gave out the practice sheets and then circulated around the room. She
found that some groups had trouble deciding which planet was being described. They
said several of the facts were similar and they didn’t think they had enough information
to make a decision. Kelly half-heartedly agreed with them, but encouraged them to
identify the planets anyway.
Near the end of the lesson period, Kelly asked all the groups to look to the front
of the room.
“Class, I have your group quiz here. I’m going to give one to each group. You’ll
work cooperatively to answer the questions. That’s why this is called “cooperative
learning.” When you finish, hand in your quiz with the names of all you group members
at the top. I’ll grade the quizzes and have them for you tomorrow. Good luck!”
Kelly passed out the quizzes, then walked around the room answering questions
and making sure the groups were working well. She noticed that some groups were
working better than others. She also observed that in most groups, the brightest
student was given the role of secretary and was doing most of the work.
“I wonder if this working the way it’s supposed to. They don’t seem to be
cooperating that much,” Kelly thought.
Reflecting on the Scenario
1. What kind of cooperative learning strategy should Kelly Jordan have
used? Why?
2. Was Kelly effective in forming cooperative learning groups? Why or
why not? What else could she have done to form groups?
3. Was Kelly’s instruction in structuring the cooperative learning activity
effective? Why or why not? What else could she have done to help
students understand the content and the activity?
Cooperative Learning
Evaluation Activity
Evaluate Kelly Jordan’s decisions related to the important points in a
cooperative learning lesson. There might be shades of gray, but you are
asked to use on two categories: “Good job!” and “Needs Improvement.”
To complete this evaluation activity, you should:
1. Place a check in the appropriate box.
2. For every “Needs Improvement,” write ONE sentence suggesting
ONE key idea about what Kelly could do to improve.
Good
Job!
Group Size
Assignment to
groups
Roles
Task
Description
Criteria for
Success
Positive
Interdependence
Individual
Accountability
Cooperative
Skill Instruction
Needs
Improvement