Cooperative learning is an approach to organizing classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.
It differs from group work, and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence." Students must work
in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive
in nature, students learning cooperatively capitalize on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for
information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc.). Furthermore, the teacher's role
changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning. Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds. Ross
and Smyth (1995) describe successful cooperative learning tasks as intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended,
and involve higher order thinking tasks.
Brown & Ciuffetelli Parker (2009) and Siltala (2010) discuss the 5 basic and essential elements to
cooperative learning:
1. Positive interdependence

Students must fully participate and put forth effort within their group

Each group member has a task/role/responsibility therefore must believe that they are responsible for
their learning and that of their group
2. Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

Member promote each other’s success

Students explain to one another what they have or are learning and assist one another with
understanding and completion of assignments
3. Individual and Group Accountability

Each student must demonstrate master of the content being studied

Each student is accountable for their learning and work, therefore eliminating “social loafing”
4. Social Skills

Social skills that must be taught in order for successful cooperative learning to occur

Skills include effective communication, interpersonal and group skills
i. Leadership
ii. Decision-making
iii. Trust-building
iv. Communication
v. Conflict-management skills
5. Group Processing

Every so often groups must assess their effectiveness and decide how it can be improved
In order for student achievement to improve considerably, two characteristics must be present a) Students
are working towards a group goal or recognition and b) success is reliant on each individual’s learning
a. When designing cooperative learning tasks and reward structures, individual responsibility and
accountability must be identified. Individuals must know exactly what their responsibilities are and
that they are accountable to the group in order to reach their goal.
b. Positive Interdependence among students in the task. All group members must be involved in
order for the group to complete the task. In order for this to occur each member must have a task that
they are responsible for which cannot be completed by any other group member.

Think Pair Share
Originally developed by Frank T. Lyman (1981), Think-Pair-Share allows for students to contemplate a
posed question or problem silently. The student may write down thoughts or simply just brainstorm in his or
her head. When prompted, the student pairs up with a peer and discusses his or her idea(s) and then listens to
the ideas of his or her partner. Following pair dialogue, the teacher solicits responses from the whole group.

Jigsaw
Students are members of two groups: home group and expert group. In the heterogenous home group,
students are each assigned a different topic. Once a topic has been identified, students leave the home group
and group with the other students with their assigned topic. In the new group, students learn the material
together before returning to their home group. Once back in their home group, each student is accountable
for teaching his or her assigned topic.

Jigsaw II
Jigsaw II is Robert Slavin's (1980) variation of Jigsaw in which members of the home group are assigned the
same material, but focus on separate portions of the material. Each member must become an "expert" on his
or her assigned portion and teach the other members of the home group.

Reverse Jigsaw
This variation was created by Timothy Hedeen (2003) It differs from the original Jigsaw during the teaching
portion of the activity. In the Reverse Jigsaw technique, students in the expert groups teach the whole class
rather than return to their home groups to teach the content.

Reciprocal Teaching
Brown & Paliscar (1982) developed reciprocal teaching. It is a cooperative technique that allows for student
pairs to participate in a dialogue about text. Partners take turns reading and asking questions of each other,
receiving immediate feedback. Such a model allows for students to use important metacognitive techniques
such as clarifying, questioning, predicting, and summarizing. It embraces the idea that students can
effectively learn from each other.

The Williams
Students collaborate together to answer a big question that is the learning objective. Each group has
differentiated questions that increase in cognitive ability to allow students to progress and meet the learning
objective.

STAD (or Student-Teams-Achievement Divisions)
Students are placed in small groups (or teams). The class in its entirety is presented with a lesson and the
students are subsequently tested. Individuals are graded on the team's performance. Although the tests are
taken individually, students are encouraged to work together to improve the overall performance of the
group.



Increased higher level reasoning
Increased generation of new ideas and solutions
Greater transfer of learning between situations
Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something
together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another’s
resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one
another’s work, etc.). More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be
created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetry
roles.
Collaborative learning is commonly illustrated when groups of students work together to search for understanding,
meaning, or solutions or to create an artifact or product of their learning
The jigsaw classroom is a cooperative learning technique with a three-decade track record of
successfully reducing racial conflict and increasing positive educational outcomes. Just as in a jigsaw
puzzle, each piece--each student's part--is essential for the completion and full understanding of the
final product. If each student's part is essential, then each student is essential; and that is precisely
what makes this strategy so effective.
Here is how it works: The students in a history class, for example, are divided into small groups of five or six
students each. Suppose their task is to learn about World War II. In one jigsaw group, Sara is responsible for
researching Hitler's rise to power in pre-war Germany. Another member of the group, Steven, is assigned to cover
concentration camps; Pedro is assigned Britain's role in the war; Melody is to research the contribution of the
Soviet Union; Tyrone will handle Japan's entry into the war; Clara will read about the development of the atom
bomb.
Eventually each student will come back to her or his jigsaw group and will try to present a well-organized report to
the group. The situation is specifically structured so that the only access any member has to the other five
assignments is by listening closely to the report of the person reciting. Thus, if Tyrone doesn't like Pedro, or if he
thinks Sara is a nerd and tunes her out or makes fun of her, he cannot possibly do well on the test that follows.
To increase the chances that each report will be accurate, the students doing the research do not immediately
take it back to their jigsaw group. Instead, they meet first with students who have the identical assignment (one
from each jigsaw group). For example, students assigned to the atom bomb topic meet as a team of specialists,
gathering information, becoming experts on their topic, and rehearsing their presentations. We call this the
"expert" group. It is particularly useful for students who might have initial difficulty learning or organizing their
part of the assignment, for it allows them to hear and rehearse with other "experts."
Once each presenter is up to speed, the jigsaw groups reconvene in their initial heterogeneous configuration. The
atom bomb expert in each group teaches the other group members about the development of the atom bomb.
Each student in each group educates the whole group about her or his specialty. Students are then tested on what
they have learned about World War II from their fellow group member.
What is the benefit of the jigsaw classroom? First and foremost, it is a remarkably efficient way to learn the
material. But even more important, the jigsaw process encourages listening, engagement, and empathy by giving
each member of the group an essential part to play in the academic activity. Group members must work together
as a team to accomplish a common goal; each person depends on all the others. No student can succeed
completely unless everyone works well together as a team. This "cooperation by design" facilitates interaction
among all students in the class, leading them to value each other as contributors to their common task.
The jigsaw classrom is very simple to use. If you're a teacher, just follow these steps:
1. Divide students into 5- or 6-person jigsaw groups. The groups should be diverse in terms of gender,
ethnicity, race, and ability.
2. Appoint one student from each group as the leader. Initially, this person should be the most mature
student in the group.
3. Divide the day's lesson into 5-6 segments. For example, if you want history students to learn about
Eleanor Roosevelt, you might divide a short biography of her into stand-alone segments on: (1) Her
childhood, (2) Her family life with Franklin and their children, (3) Her life after Franklin contracted polio,
(4) Her work in the White House as First Lady, and (5) Her life and work after Franklin's death.
4. Assign each student to learn one segment, making sure students have direct access only to their own
segment.
5. Give students time to read over their segment at least twice and become familiar with it. There is no need
for them to memorize it.
6. Form temporary "expert groups" by having one student from each jigsaw group join other students
assigned to the same segment. Give students in these expert groups time to discuss the main points of
their segment and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group.
7. Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups.
8. Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask
questions for clarification.
9. Float from group to group, observing the process. If any group is having trouble (e.g., a member is
dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. Eventually, it's best for the group leader to
handle this task. Leaders can be trained by whispering an instruction on how to intervene, until the leader
gets the hang of it.
10. At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material so that students quickly come to realize that these
sessions are not just fun and games but really count.
The Problem of the Dominant Student
Many jigsaw teachers find it useful to appoint one of the students to be the discussion leader for each
session, on a rotating basis. It is the leader's job to call on students in a fair manner and try to spread
participation evenly. In addition, students quickly realize that the group runs more effectively if each
student is allowed to present her or his material before question and comments are taken. Thus, the selfinterest of the group eventually reduces the problem of dominance.
The Problem of the Slow Student
Teachers must make sure that students with poor study skills do not present an inferior report to the
jigsaw group. If this were to happen, the jigsaw experience might backfire (the situation would be akin to
the untalented baseball player dropping a routine fly ball with the bases loaded, earning the wrath of
teammates). To deal with this problem, the jigsaw technique relies on "expert" groups. Before presenting
a report to their jigsaw groups, each student enters an expert group consisting of other students who have
prepared a report on the same topic. In the expert group, students have a chance to discuss their report
and modify it based on the suggestions of other members of their expert group. This system works very
well. In the early stages, teachers may want to monitor the expert groups carefully, just to make sure that
each student ends with an accurate report to bring to her or his jigsaw group. Most teachers find that once
the expert groups get the hang of it, close monitoring becomes unnecessary.
The Problem of Bright Students Becoming Bored
Boredom can be a problem in any classroom, regardless of the learning technique being used. Research
suggests, however, that there is less boredom in jigsaw classrooms than in traditional classrooms.
Youngsters in jigsaw classes report liking school better, and this is true for the bright students as well as
the slower students. After all, being in the position of a teacher can be an exciting change of pace for all
students. If bright students are encouraged to develop the mind set of "teacher," the learning experience
can be transformed from a boring task into an exciting challenge. Not only does such a challenge produce
psychological benefits, but the learning is frequently more thorough.
The Problem of Students Who Have Been Trained to Compete
Research suggests that jigsaw has its strongest effect if introduced in elementary school. When children
have been exposed to jigsaw in their early years, little more than a "booster shot" (one hour per day) of
jigsaw in middle school and high school is required to maintain the benefits of cooperative learning. But
what if jigsaw has not been used in elementary school? Admittedly, it is an uphill battle to introduce
cooperative learning to 16-year olds who have never before experienced it. Old habits are not easy to
break. But they can be broken, and it is never too late to begin. Experience has shown that although it
generally takes a bit longer, most high school students participating in jigsaw for the first time display a
remarkable ability to benefit from the cooperative structure.
In Conclusion
Some teachers may feel that they have already tried a cooperative learning approach because they have
occasionally placed their students in small groups, instructing them to cooperate. Yet cooperative learning
requires more than seating youngsters around a table and telling them to share, work together, and be
nice to one another. Such loose, unstructured situations do not contain the crucial elements and
safeguards that make the jigsaw and other structured cooperative strategies work so well.
Placemat and Round Robin
This activity is designed to allow for each individual’s thinking, perspective and voice to be heard,
recognised and explored.
1.
2.
3.
Form participants into groups of four.
Allocate one piece of A3 or butcher’s paper to each group.
Ask each group to draw the diagram on the paper.
4.
5.
6.
The outer spaces are for each participant to write their thoughts about the topic.
Conduct a Round Robin so that each participant can share their views.
The circle in the middle of the paper is to note down (by the nominated scribe) the common points made by each
participant.
Each group then reports the common points to the whole group.
7.
What is Cooperative Learning?
Cooperative learning involves more than students working together on a lab or field project. It requires
teachers to structure cooperative interdependence among the students. These structures involve five
key elements which can be implemented in a variety of ways. There are also different types of
cooperative groups appropriate for different situations.
More than Just Working in Groups
Five key elements differentiate cooperative learning from simply putting students into groups to
learn (Johnson et al., 2006).
1. Positive Interdependence: You'll know when you've succeeded in structuring positive
interdependence when students perceive that they "sink or swim together." This can be
achieved through mutual goals, division of labor, dividing materials, roles, and by making
part of each student's grade dependent on the performance of the rest of the group. Group
members must believe that each person's efforts benefit not only him- or herself, but all
group members as well.
2. Individual Accountability: The essence of individual accountability in cooperative
learning is "students learn together, but perform alone." This ensures that no one can
"hitch-hike" on the work of others. A lesson's goals must be clear enough that students are
able to measure whether (a) the group is successful in achieving them, and (b) individual
members are successful in achieving them as well.
3. Face-to-Face (Promotive) Interaction: Important cognitive activities and interpersonal
dynamics only occur when students promote each other's learning. This includes oral
explanations of how to solve problems, discussing the nature of the concepts being
learned, and connecting present learning with past knowledge. It is through face-to-face,
promotive interaction that members become personally committed to each other as well as
to their mutual goals.
4. Interpersonal and Small Group Social Skills: In cooperative learning groups, students
learn academic subject matter (taskwork) and also interpersonal and small group skills
(teamwork). Thus, a group must know how to provide effective leadership, decisionmaking, trust-building, communication, and conflict management. Given the complexity of
these skills, teachers can encourage much higher performance by teaching cooperative skill
components within cooperative lessons. As students develop these skills, later group
projects will probably run more smoothly and efficiently than early ones.
5. Group Processing: After completing their task, students must be given time and
procedures for analyzing how well their learning groups are functioning and how well social
skills are being employed. Group processing involves both taskwork and teamwork, with an
eye to improving it on the next project.
Similarly, Kagan (2003) has developed the easily recalled acronym PIES to denote the key
elements of positive interdependence, individual accountability, equal participation, and
simultaneous interaction where the latter 2 components encompass the final three described
above.
Implementing the Elements of Cooperative Learning
There are a variety of techniques that can be used to promote one or more of the elements of
effective cooperative learning groups. The list below is intended to be representative rather
than exhaustive.

Positive Interdependence:
o
Big Project: This is the usual motivation for assigning students to work
in groups in the first place, a learning task that a student cannot
accomplish alone in a reasonable length of time. Often these projects
are more interesting and can teach more than simplified versions. See
examples of projects.
o
Jigsaw: Divide the group into specialists on particular areas of the
material to be learned. Specialists in one area work together to develop
expertise in their specialty, then return to their original group to
combine their new expertise with those of experts on other aspects of
the material to finish the project. For a complete description of this
technique, see the jigsaw module.
o
Peer Review: Providing students with the opportunity to learn how to
provide and received constructive feedback is an important part of
process of conducting research. The peer review module describes how
to use student pairs or groups to help each other with written work.
o
Ways to promote positive interdependence include (Smith and Waller
1997, p. 202):

Output goal interdependence- a single product is produced by
the group

Learning goal interdependence- the group ensures that every
member can explain the group's product

Resource interdependence- members are provided parts of the
assignment or relevant information or the group is only
provided one copy of the assignment

Role interdependence- members are given distinct roles that
are key to the functioning of the group

Individual Accountability:
o
Individual Grades: Individuals can be given quizzes and exams.
Likewise, parts of group projects can be done independently or
randomly drawn students can provide oral/written reports on group
results.
o
Within-Group Peer Assessment: Another way to discourage students
from letting others do their share of group work is to have students
(anonymously) rate their group mates and include the average rating
from all of a student's group mates as part of his or her grade.
o
See the assessment of cooperative learning page for more information
about how to encourage individual accountability.

Face-to-Face (Promotive) Interaction:
o
Student Roles: Encourage students to interface with multiple parts of
the project by assigning roles that require interaction with the rest of
the group as they work, such as checking data, keeping the group on
task, or keeping records.
o
Online Bulletin Boards: If students have limited time to meet face-toface (common on commuter campuses and online courses), the
instructor can set up an online asynchronous bulletin board for students
to post what is essentially an e-mail to the group. Many forms of
classroom management software such as WebCT and Blackboard make
this possible. It also allows the instructor to monitor interaction.

Interpersonal Skills:
o
Discussion: It may be helpful to explain to your students why they are
working together and how the group can promote their learning.
o
Practice: Give students time to learn to work together before expecting
spectacular results from cooperative learning. If you assign students to
groups early in the term and let them do a series of projects together,
not only will they learn each other's schedules and particular strengths,
they will learn to ask and answer better questions of each other about
their projects and progress.

Group Processing:
o
Reflections: It may be worthwhile for group members to write
individual, private reflections on their learning after the project, citing
which parts of the project and which group members contributed to
various discoveries, then bring the group back together to discuss the
project. Fink (2003) describes this process of 'learning how to learn' as
one of five key components that contribute to significant learning
experiences as it enables students to become better students, inquire
about a subject and construct knowledge and become "self-directing
learners."
Definition: Cooperative learning is a method of instruction that has students working together in groups, usually
with the goal of completing a specific task. This method can help students develop leadership skills and the ability
to work with others as a team.
Cooperative Learning
Definition:
Cooperative learning is a
successful teaching
strategy in which small
teams, each with students
of different levels of
ability, use a variety of
learning activities to
improve their
understanding of a
subject. Each member of a
team is responsible not
Collaborative Learning
Definition:
"Collaborative learning is
based on the idea that
learning is a naturally
social act in which the
participants talk among
themselves (Gerlach,
1994). It is through the
talk that learning occurs."
only for learning what is
taught but also for helping
teammates learn, thus
creating an atmosphere of
achievement. (U.S. Dept.
of Ed. Office of Research,
1992)
each person is responsible for a
portion of the work
participants work together to
solve a problem
many times the teacher already
knows the problem and solution
students will be working towards
many times teacher does not
have a pre-set notion of the
problem or solution that students
will be researching