Introduction
At its broadest definition cooperative learning is an educational approach which organises learning
activities into academic and social learning experiences. It involves the learners working in small
groups to carry out given assignments. These tasks are structured so that each group member makes
a contribution to the completion of the task. The success of the project is based on the performance
of the group rather than on the performance of individual learners.
Strengths and Benefits of Cooperative Learning
When looked at superficially cooperative learning is just arranging learners into groups and giving
them assignments. However, cooperative learning is way more than just assembling students into
groups. The structure of cooperative learning makes it imperative that learners must work
collectively in the groups in order to attain the goals that will be set for the group. Students have
two responsibilities in cooperative learning situations, according which is to learn the assigned
material, and ensure that all members of the group learn the assigned material Guerrero, Ochoa,
Pino, and Collazos (2006). Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive in nature, students
learning cooperatively can take advantage of each other’s resources and skills. Learners in groups
can ask one another for information, take time to evaluate the ideas that are presented, monitor
each other and work done by others and generally provide support for each other throughout the
subsistence of the project (Larson, 2013). Additionally, role of the instructor evolves from giving
information to facilitating the learning process. In cooperative learning every member of the group
has an incentive to work towards the success of the group because success is due to all when it
comes, ditto with failure. Larson (2013) describe successful cooperative learning tasks as
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intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended, and involve higher order thinking tasks. Research
has found out linkages between cooperative learning as an instruction strategy and increased levels
of student satisfaction.
According to Guerrero, Ochoa, Pino, and Collazos (2006) there are five major benefits of
cooperative learning which are positive interdependence, individual and group accountability,
promotion of interaction (face to face), group processing, teaching the students the required
interpersonal and small group skills.
Positive interdependence has been defined as structuring positive interdependence on the learners.
Group members are forced to closely interact with peers since each member has a partial view
(part) of the assignment. Therefore, cooperative learning presents a strict positive interdependence
of goals. Cooperative learning is based on group work, but it’s also so much more than that. The
core element of cooperative learning is to showcase the positive effects of interdependence while
underlining the importance of personal responsibility. This happens naturally in cooperative
learning since students work with one another, but they all have a different task to accomplish or
concept to explain.
Cooperative learning fosters interaction of students as they carry out their tasks. The instruction
strategy thus promotes social interaction by leaners. In addition, the experience of working socially
can help students with soft skills, which is a nice bonus to cooperative learning in general.
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Challenges of cooperative learning
Although cooperative learning has its advantages there are associated challenges that come with
it. One controversial aspect of cooperative learning is whether or not to assign group achievement
marks (Seechaliao, 2017). Larson (2013) argues against using a group achievement mark, by
stating that group marks convey the wrong message. If grades are partially a function of forces
entirely out of students’ control, such as who happens to be their partners, that sends students the
wrong message. Group marks also violate individual accountability if individual students find
ways to manipulate situations to their advantage. Group achievement marks are responsible for the
resistance by some quarters to cooperative learning.
Because students have to depend on each other, this places those students who are independent
and would rather work alone in an unenviable situation. This can be cause for group friction which
may hinder the purpose of cooperative learning.
There is also the challenge of “hogs” and “logs” in cooperative learning. The hogs are those who
want to take the limelight and want to be in control of the group. On the end of the spectrum are
those who do nothing and just sit like logs. These let others do all the work and are there to just
get the group mark.
Conclusion
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Understanding and analyzing collaborative learning processes require a fine-grained sequential
analysis of the group interaction in the context of learning goals. Several researchers in the area of
cooperative work take as a success criterion the quality of the group outcome. Success in
collaborative learning subject matter means both learning the subject matter (collaborating to
learn), and learning how to effectively manage the interaction (learning to collaborate). There are
also challenges in using cooperative learning like grading group work and working with
independent minded students. However, all said and done cooperative learning is a positive
instructional strategy.
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References
Lasorn Jr. J. R. (2013). In search of synergy in small group performance. Psychology Press.
Seechaliao, T. (2017). Instructional Strategies to Support Creativity and Innovation in Education.
Journal of Education and Learning, 6(4) p201-208
Guerrero, L. A., Ochoa, S. F., Pino, J. A., and Collazos, C. A. (2006). Selecting computing devices
to support mobile collaboration. Group Decision and Negotiation, 15(3), 243-271.
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