Cooperative Learning

Does this really work?

Kelly Jordan became interested in using cooperative learning in her fourth grade classroom after reading an article about it on a teacher website. She mentioned her interest to some of her colleagues at Jefferson Elementary School and found that several of them had used cooperative learning with some success. That’s when Kelly decided to give it a try herself. She looked over the science curriculum she would be teaching during the next grading period and decided on the solar system as her topic.

Kelly began planning her lessons for the cooperative unit. She knew her students needed to support each other in teams as they learned, but she wasn’t sure how to ensure that this happened. Kelly asked her colleagues about how they planned their cooperative units, but no one gave her very clear explanations. “I guess the best way to learn is to try,” Kelly told herself while she read the teacher’s edition of the science text she was using.

Finally, the day to being the cooperative unit arrived. “Class, today we’re going to try something new. Instead of me doing all the teaching, you’re going to help each other learn,” Kelly told her students. “The first thing we need to do is get into groups of three or four. These will be our cooperative learning groups. At first I though about assigning groups, but I thought you might do better if you teamed with people you know. Go ahead and find two or three students you would like to work with. After you’ve found your group, decide on a team name. You have 5 minutes to form and name your groups.”

Kelly circulated throughout the room while the students were forming their teams. She had to help settle a few disputes among students. She also found that in some cases groups wound up with 5 members. Kelly decided to allow students to keep the larger groups rather than breaking them into smaller teams. She also had to help students who remained isolated and other who couldn’t find partners join existing groups or form teams of their own.

When most of the class had formed groups, Kelly said, “Here’s what we’ll be doing for this unit. We’re going to be learning about the planets in the solar system. I know many of you know something about the topic, but we’re going to learn more about the planets individually and about the solar system as a whole.”

“I want everyone to begin by reading Chapter 8 in your science book. After you read the chapter, I want each person to write some facts about different planets. Then you’ll share your facts with your team members and see if you can figure out which planet the facts describe. Tomorrow, we’ll continue this with a group quiz. Since we’re using cooperative learning, you’ll be allowed to help each other on the quiz and everyone in the group will get the same grade on this assignment. Any questions? Michael?”

“What are we supposed to do in the groups? I don’t think I understand.”

“First, you’re going to read Chapter 8 about the solar system. Then you’re going to write facts about the different planets share them with your team members. Any other questions? No? Then let’s get into our groups and get started.”

Kelly walked around among the groups as they starting the assignments. She noticed that some groups—composed mostly of her A and B students—began working right away, while other groups were slower getting started. Kelly worked with the groups and repeated her directions. After about 10 minutes, most of the groups were working well. Kelly was encouraged. “Hmm,” she thought, “maybe this is going to work.”

The next day, Kelly began the science lesson by saying, “Class, yesterday you did a nice job learning facts about the different planets. To help you practice for the quiz today, I have an activity in which you will identify planets by different facts about them. This is the same thing you’ll do on the group quiz at the end of the lesson. So get to work, and I’ll be here to answer any questions if you need help.”

Kelly gave out the practice sheets and then circulated around the room. She found that some groups had trouble deciding which planet was being described. They said several of the facts were similar and they didn’t think they had enough information to make a decision. Kelly half-heartedly agreed with them, but encouraged them to identify the planets anyway.

Near the end of the lesson period, Kelly asked all the groups to look to the front of the room.

“Class, I have your group quiz here. I’m going to give one to each group. You’ll work cooperatively to answer the questions. That’s why this is called “cooperative learning.” When you finish, hand in your quiz with the names of all you group members at the top. I’ll grade the quizzes and have them for you tomorrow. Good luck!”

Kelly passed out the quizzes, then walked around the room answering questions and making sure the groups were working well. She noticed that some groups were working better than others. She also observed that in most groups, the brightest student was given the role of secretary and was doing most of the work.

“I wonder if this working the way it’s supposed to. They don’t seem to be cooperating that much,” Kelly thought.

Reflecting on the Scenario

1.  What kind of cooperative learning strategy should Kelly Jordan have used? Why?

2.  Was Kelly effective in forming cooperative learning groups? Why or why not? What else could she have done to form groups?

3.  Was Kelly’s instruction in structuring the cooperative learning activity effective? Why or why not? What else could she have done to help students understand the content and the activity?

Cooperative Learning

Evaluation Activity

Evaluate Kelly Jordan’s decisions related to the important points in a cooperative learning lesson. There might be shades of gray, but you are asked to use on two categories: “Good job!” and “Needs Improvement.”

To complete this evaluation activity, you should:

1.  Place a check in the appropriate box.

2.  For every “Needs Improvement,” write ONE sentence suggesting ONE key idea about what Kelly could do to improve.

Good Job! / Needs Improvement
Group Size
Assignment to groups
Roles
Task Description
Criteria for Success
Positive Interdependence
Individual Accountability
Cooperative Skill Instruction