cooperative learning by Ahmad Hudan Grisha and Merry Intinia Defi

Nama  : Ahmad Hudan Grisha

              Merry Intinia Defi

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Cooperative learning is a teaching method where students of mixed levels of ability are arranged into groups, and rewarded according to the group's success, not the success of an individual member. Cooperative learning structures have been in and out of favor in American education since the early 1900s, when they were introduced by the American education reformer John Dewey, according to Anita Woolfolk (Educational Psychology, 2004). Cooperative learning is sometimes thought of simply as 'group work,' but groups of students working together might not be working collaboratively.

Elements of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning researchers David and Roger Johnson (Woolfolk, 2004) have identified five elements that define cooperative learning:

Face-to-Face Interaction    

Students are promoting each others' learning through face-to-face activities where they discuss and explain assignment topics with each other.

Positive Interdependence

Students have the sense that they're 'in this together,' feeling that each member's individual effort will not only help him, but the whole group. The grade of each student is dependent upon the effort of other group members.

Individual Accountability

Each student is accountable for their own contribution to the group. Clearly described goals ensure that each student knows what she is responsible for and what the group is responsible for.

Group Processing

Students are given a means for analyzing their group for how well the group has learned, and whether or not collaborative skills are being used.

Collaborative Skills

Students learn not only the subject matter, but interpersonal skills and how to work in teams. Students are taught skills of communication, leadership and conflict management during the early stages of cooperative learning sessions.

Benefits

There are many benefits for cooperative learning. Here are benefits you might notice after implementing some of the strategies.

1. Cooperative learning is enjoyable, so students enjoy it and are more motivated.
2. Cooperative learning is interactive, so students are engaged.
3. Cooperative learning allows discussion and critical thinking, so students learn more and remember it for a longer period of time.
4. Cooperative learning requires students to learn to work together, which is an important skill for their futures.

Strategies

Cooperative learning takes some time to get used to, so try to give it a fair try in a long term. Here are some strategies for organizing your group and developing assignments.

Groups

As indicated above, cooperative groups are comprised of a mix of average, abov-e-average and below-average students. Students should not form their own groups or have the option of changing groups. One way to do this is to set your classroom up with desks grouped in sets of four. Groups should change approximately every two months and, if possible, students should only work together once a year, but class size is a factor. To ease assignment tasks, students can be numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 and keep the same number for all assignments or numbers can be drawn before each assignment when numbering is required.