Think, Pair, Share!
Cooperative Learning
Teaching Techniques
for the Library Instruction
Classroom
Dr. Sheridan Young
Introduction
Cooperative Learning can be defined
as collaboration in an instructional
setting either between or among
members of small groups that
achieves learning outcomes,
including ability to remember and
utilize what is learned.
In cooperative learning settings . . .
• Groups have common goals toward which to
work.
• Students work in small, teacher-assigned
groups.
• Teachers provide activity structures that
encourage productive learning behaviors.
• Each student is individually accountable for
his or her achievements.
• Students are rewarded for group success.
Instructor Needs
• Classroom
• Movable chairs
• Tables that individually seat up to five persons, if
possible
• Computers for computer-based exercises
• Well-planned activities, designed to meet the needs
of the audience in the amount of time allocated
• Knowledge of techniques and how to utilize them
• Previous practice using the techniques
• Students equipped with writing instruments and
paper who are motivated to follow directions and
work in groups
Techniques
Round Robin Brainstorming
Jigsaw
• Group students into sets of five. Assign unique
information to learn to each group member. After
reading the material, instruct group members to
take turns teaching their material to their
teammates.
• Example: Give the members of each group a piece
of paper containing information detailing one way to
evaluative web sites. Provide two minutes of
silence to read the material and decide how to
explain it. Ask them to take turns explaining the
information to the other group members.
Think-Pair-Share
• Pose a question, and ask students to think about its answer.
Instruct students to pair off and take turns explaining their
answers to each other.
• Example: Ask class members to imagine they need to
research a paper topic but cannot remember what their
library instruction professor told them about which
databases to use to do so. Instruct students to think silently
about how best to refresh their memories and then explain
their answers to their partners. Then call on a few students
to explain their partner’s strategy to the class.
Three-Step Interview
• Group students into pairs. In step one, ask individuals to
interview their partners. In step two, ask partners to reverse
roles. In step three, select a few students to explain their
partners’ answer to the entire class.
• Example: Instruct students to imagine that their psychology
professor has asked each one to compose a five-page
research paper focused on one of the many topics covered
in the course textbook. Request that they think silently about
how they would go about selecting a topic and why they
would choose that method. Ask the students to pair off and
interview each other. Each partner should ask the other
these questions. “How would you identify a topic?” “Why
would you choose this method?”
Round Robin Brainstorming
Group students into sets of four or five each, and instruct each group to
appoint a recorder. Pose a question having several answers. Have group
members think silently about responses and then take turns sharing their
ideas with the others in the group. Ask group members not to criticize one
another's responses. Instruct the recorder to write down the ideas. After a
few minutes, stop the discussions, and select a member of each group to
read the recorder’s list aloud.
Example: Instruct class members to imagine that their biology professor
has asked each one to compose a paper focused on gene therapy but has
provided no guidance in terms of appropriate number or type of resources
needed to complete the paper. Tell students to imagine themselves
confronted with 253 titles after a global library database/catalog search and
to “brainstorm” ideas as to what to do next. Ask them to name a recorder to
take notes and a reporter to read the notes. After a few minutes, ask
students to end their discussions. Then have each reporter tell the entire
class about his or her group’s ideas.
Three-minute Review
• Pause during or at the end of a lecture or discussion.
Ask students to work with partners to summarize the
lecture or discussion. After three minutes, call on a few
students to share their group’s summary with the class.
• Example: Pause at the end of each lecture topic. Ask
students to pair up and summarize the lecture. Ask one
member of two or three of the pairs to share summaries
verbally with the entire class.
Numbered Heads
Group students into sets of four, and number the
members of each group one through four. Give the
groups questions to answer. Ask each group to decide
upon an answer, and call on all persons with a certain
number to take turns reporting to the class.
Book Ends
• Ask students to pair up. Give them a topic, and tell them
to spend a couple of minutes deciding how to teach that
topic to their partners. After giving participants time to
think, invite them to take turns teaching the topic to their
partners.
• Example: Ask students to select an information resource
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, New York
Times Index, or a resource of their choosing. Instruct
them to describe the resource by creating a list of its
characteristics. After a few minutes, ask students to use
their lists to teach their partners about the resource.
Cooperative Learning Benefits
Cooperative Learning teaching techniques facilitate learning and memory by:
• Ensuring attention through active student
participation
• Adding meaning and relevance to the material
• Enabling students to learn from “modeling” or
through observation of others
Cooperative Learning Benefits
Cooperative Learning teaching techniques facilitate learning and memory by
• Using repetition and “deep” processing to
help move information into long-term
memory
• Facilitating future retrieval by mimicking
retrieval environments
• Encouraging student participation through
expectation of rewards - desire to avoid
possible punishments
Cooperative Learning Benefits
Students of all ability levels show higher academic
achievement when taught using cooperative
learning techniques as opposed to traditional
techniques. Women, members of minority groups,
and “at risk” students especially are likely to show
increased achievement. Cooperative Learning
promotes development of higher-level thinking
skills. (See J. E. Ormrod’s Human learning (4th ed.)
for detailed information.)
References
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Colbeck, C. L., Campbell, S. E., and Bjorklund, S. A., (2000). Grouping in the
dark: What college students learn from group projects. The Journal of Higher
Education, 71, 60-83.
Goodsell, A.S. (1992). Collaborative learning: A sourcebook for higher education.
University Park, PA: National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and
Assessment.
Jacobs, G.M. (2002). The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T. (1994). Learning together and alone:
Cooperation, computers, and individualist learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T, and Smith, K.A. (1988). Cooperative learning
returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30(4), 27-35.
McGlynn, A. P. (2006). Teaching millennials, our newest cultural cohort.
Education Digest, 71(4), 12-16.
Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Human Learning. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Slavin, R. E. (1983). Cooperative learning. New York: Longman.
Slavin, R. E. (1989). Cooperative learning and student achievement: Six
theoretical perspectives. In Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 6, pp.
161-177). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.
Terry, W. S. (2006). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and
procedures. Boston: Pearson.
Cooperative Learning. Retrieved May 27, 2007 from
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm
Author Contact Information
Dr. Sheridan Young
Director of Library Services
Cameron University Library
sherryy@cameron.edu
580-581-2403