Why Cooperative Work Groups?
Bill Strom, Dept. of Media + Communication
[I provide my students with this first page rationale to give them
a context for group work.]
This course will make ample use of cooperative work groups. I trust you will see the
academic benefits and fun of their influence.
Cooperative Work Groups have been shown to benefit students academically by
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Increasing the amount of time you spend actually spend thinking
academically
Reinforcing the theories and research facts covered in lectures
Helping you create your own knowledge through discussion
Increasing your critical thinking skills as you hear others’ ideas
Placing learning in your hands more and in my lecturing less
Helping you do better on exams and projects
Cooperative Work Groups have also been shown to benefit students socially and
emotionally by
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Making class less passive (i.e., listening to lectures only) and more active
(i.e., interaction with your group)
Building relational support from friends and acquaintances
Increasing your group communication and social skills
Practicing your persuasion skills
Building a stronger sense of self in God’s community
Appreciating and respecting the diversity of your classmates
Cooperative learning can be defined as a structured form of small group learning
where participants accomplish well-planned and well-designed tasks that foster
mastery of the course content. Cooperative work groups value individual student
responsibility and accountability within a framework of positive interdependence.
Everyone Plays a Role in Your Group
Each group will consist of 3-4 members, and each member will have a chance to play
each role described below. After you have played your role for two consecutive
activities, your team members will rotate to take on new roles for the next two
activities. (Eight activities take place throughout the semester.)
Leaders
1. Get the group focused on the task (whatever it is that day)
2. Move the group along in the task
3. Manage the flow of conversation so everyone gets involved
4. Delegates out-of-class assignments to various members
Recorders
1. Get the team’s folder from the instructor each day
2. Keep attendance
3. Summarize the group’s discussions in paragraph form
4. Hand in the folder at the end of the day
Encouragers
1. Encourage people to contribute their ideas
2. Serve as the group’s biggest fan—affirm people for their ideas
3. Try to be a harmonizer when members conflict
4. Encourage members to accomplish out-of-class work
Speakers
1. Serve as the spokesperson for their group
2. Give brief impromptu oral reports for things discussed in your group
3. Write group answers to questions on the board when asked
Assigned Roles: You will play each role twice. Here’s how you know when it’s your
turn to play what role:
 List your group members by first name in alphabetical order. Where you
fall in the list determines your role (see reverse side for table).
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bob Hall
Erica Porter
Jerald Manns
Willma Johnson
becomes “A”
becomes “B”
becomes “C”
becomes “D”
See the schedule of when you play your role on the reverse of this sheet 
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Cooperative
Task Activity
Number 
1
2
3
4
5
A
Leader
Recorder
Speaker
Encourager
Leader
B
C
Recorder
Speaker
Encourager
Leader
Recorder
Speaker
Encourager
Leader
Recorder
Speaker
D
Encourager
Leader
Recorder
Speaker
Encourager
So, when we do Task Activity #1, Person A is leader, B is Recorder, C is Speaker,
and D is Encourager.
If you have 5 people in your group, the person “E” follows the same order as person
“D” and they negotiate who records, otherwise they can co-lead, co-speak, coencourage.
If you have 3 people in your group, no one is the formal encourager—you all get to
encourage the other!
See the syllabus for cooperative task activity numbers on the day-to-day schedule.
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Collaborative Task #1: What to do with the
Students from Mongolia?
Group Name: ________________________
Who’s here:
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
Who’s gone:
_________________________
Note: See sheet for who does what..
This task requires you to do a little pretending. Pretend that all of you are members
of a student life steering committee at TWU. The committee has been formed to
determine principles and policies for students new to TWU.
Recently student life learned that seven students from northern Mongolia would be
entering TWU. Northern Mongolians are semi-nomadic herdsmen and farmers who
carry most of their belongings on simple carts pulled by horses. Many have never
seen telephone lines much less telecommunication dishes. They are family-oriented,
hardworking, and bright, but have never had formal education.
Your task is to consider any special procedures, principles, or policies TWU might
engage to help these students adapt to the hustle and bustle of TWU life. One idea
is to place these students in a “no media” dorm where the rooms and lounges are
free from computers, televisions, stereos, and internet access. This is called the
“media free” idea. A competing option is called “media enmeshment” and would see
the students in regular dorms with easy access to all media as other TWU students
enjoy.
Which of these two approaches do you recommend for the students? Or might you
recommend a mix? How might time and timing fit in? Write an answer that
articulates your position, and as you do, argue your case by referring to
McLuhan’s media ecology
Gerbner’s cultivation theory
Hall’s cultural / Marxist approach
Please make specific applications by referring to ideas and research from each
theory. Your answer should address the benefits and challenges for the Mongolian
students in a media-free or media-enmeshed setting.
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Please write your response in the form of a letter to Mr. Sheldon Loeppky, vice
provost of student life.
Collaborative Task #2
Can Relational Theories Shed Light on Complex Relationships?
Please change roles: see blue sheet in folder (“A” become recorder, “B”
becomes Encourager, etc.. If you have 5 members, “E” is an encourager.)
Also note who’s here and who’s not:
Here: ___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Not: __________________
This task is based on the lyrics of “How to Save a Life” by Slade and King of The
Fray. Please read them now.
Part I. Altman and Taylor’s Social Penetration Theory asserts that the breadth
(number) and depth (intimacy level) of our disclosures builds and reflects the nature
of our relationships. Suppose the two characters represented in this song were real
people who had an interaction similar to the one in the lyrics. Analyze how Altman
and Taylor would understand these disclosures, or lack thereof. Use any ideas from
their model that seem to apply to explain how she and he have arrived at this
crossroad in their friendship. (use your own paper)
Part II. Please analyze the lyrics through the lens of Baxter and Montgomery’s
Relational Dialects by answering the following questions:
a. Are the song’s lyrics best explained by the their list of “internal dialectics” or
“external dialectics”? Why? (about 3 sentences)
b. Which dialectics, including Rawls’ acceptance-judgment dialectic, appear to
be at work in the lyrics / relationship? Explain your answers in language like
this: “The inclusion-seclusion dialectic appears to be expressed in the lyrics
“xxxx xxx xxxxx xxxxx” because ….” Make sure you show a good working
knowledge of the dialectics as you apply them.
(about 5-6 sentences)
(Part III, PTO)
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Part III. In Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson’s Interactional View, relationships
are understood within systems of communicative rules. The authors suggest that
within these systems (or “ceiling mobiles” as Griffin says), five axioms are at work.
Apply as many axioms in a relevant way to understand the relationship in “How to
Save a Life.” Don’t stretch them too much, but make genuine application of their
insights into the relationships evident between the guy and girl in the song.
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