“An effective cooperative group is not a collection of kids thrown together for a brief activity. It's a team composed of diverse students who care about helping one another learn—and about the success of the team itself.”

“It's best if teams are composed of a cross section of the class: high and low achievers, boys and girls, students of different ethnicities.”

“Teachers we work with in Success for All programs, for example, make frequent use of a technique called "random reporter." Each student is given a number from 1 to 5. When teachers ask a question, they direct it to a team and then pick a number at random. The student on that team with that number has to respond for the whole group—and the team can earn points based on the answer.”

“The best way to use cooperative learning is to replace individual work, which in traditional lesson cycles happens after lessons and before assessments.”
Summary
Educators must teach their students how to work efficiently in cooperative learning groups. All students must be held accountable to avoid students who do not contribute to the group as well as students who give all the answers without assisting their peers. Using the strategy of “random reporter” will keep students on task and accountable. It is also important to allow the students to work through the struggle of difficult material, as opposed to shortening the lesson and giving them the answers.  3QnjwDM~�Z�

entering a workforce where building relationships and productivity go hand-in-hand.”

“One possible explanation for cooperative learning’s success is that effective learning

often occurs through an individual’s interaction with his or her environment, and language is the

means by which learning and meaning are made conscious to the student.”

“Students who perceive grades as important in a class are also expected to perform better

academically than those who attribute less importance to grades.”

“In summary, results from the analyses suggest that involvement in cooperative learning

is a strong predictor of a student’s academic performance in class. A significant relationship was

also found between the degree to which grades are important to a student and his or her active

participation in cooperative learning for group exercises.”
Summary
Communication is a skill which all students must learn to use throughout their education as well as in the workforce. Cooperative learning groups will allow students to learn how to properly communicate with peers while working to understand the material. It is also important to realize when creating groups, that students who see grades and learning as valuable will tend to perform better. dKlhDo04c+XK+qc ~�����

“Cooperative learning stimulated cognitive activities, promoted higher levels of achievement and knowledge retention.”

“Although all students in the treatment group were accustomed to a teacher-centered style of instruction, they could adapt to this new cooperative style of learning in 8 weeks of instruction in an Asian learning context.”

“Consequently it appears that learning styles are not culturally-based but contextual”

 Summary

Positive interdependence is the idea that students must work together to make sure that each member of the group is successful. Promotive interaction is when students are encouraging each other to learn the material. All cooperative groups must have individual accountability to avoid one or two members doing the work and therefore learning while the others do not. Along with accountability, it is important for students to have the social skills necessary for communicating with their peers appropriately. Finally, group processing is essentially, making sure that all members of the group stay on track and make improvements for the future. It is also important to note that learning style does not appear to be based on culture as much as how it is presented.

“Furthermore, the students’ perceptions compared well with the attitudes of teachers: that is, teachers in the higher grades expressed a less favorable attitude towards cooperative learning than their peers in the lower grades and students’ performance levels tended to mirror the decline in their perspectives.”
Summary 

                This study was based on ten middle school teachers who had not yet implemented cooperative learning in their classrooms. They were given a two-day workshop on the strategy before they were to used it in the classroom. This training proved to be important in the success of cooperative learning. All ten teachers stated after the study that they had positive experiences, and that their students learned more efficiently. They also said that it was sometimes difficult to keep the students on track, and that the students had to learn how to work in a group. It was also noted that gender plays a role in cooperative learning. Teachers must also consider the tasks given to the students. When students were asked to work on more complex tasks they were also more likely to work together. �

“Many people cringe and groan when told that they will need to work in a group.  This phenomenon is called ‘grouphate.’”

“There are four stages of group work.   First, the instructor must decide that he/she wants to incorporate group work into the class.  The group work should be designed into the syllabus.  The second stage involves teaching the students to work in a group.  Instructors cannot assume that students know how to work together, structure time, and delegate tasks.  The instructor must be able to teach the students how to work proactively in groups.  This leads to the third stage, which involves monitoring the groups.  The last stage, and the most important to the students, is the assessment of the group.  The instructor must develop a concrete rubric for grading the students.”

“Instructors cannot assume that students know how to work together, structure time, or delegate tasks.”
Summary 

                This article mentions that when individuals hear they will be working in groups, many of them are less than thrilled. The negative aspect of group collaboration are mainly members being too overbearing, member being too passive, and the time constraint. However, it is up to the instructor to try to alleviate these disadvantages. It is also important for the teacher to avoid breaking up a group that doesn’t seem to be making progress. Adjustments must be made within the group for them to work through the issues. Keeping group sizes small will help to keep all members productive. �9dN�*��:�A��~׫Ɛ

“They state that Johnsons’ survey of educational research demonstrates cooperation, in comparison with competitive and individualistic efforts, results in; · Higher achievement and greater productivity; · More caring, supportive, and committed relationships, and; · Greater psychological health, social competence and self esteem.”

“…(T)he term CL refers to an instruction method in which learners at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal”

“CL helps students to resolve differences in a friendly manner.”
Summary
This article reviews the benefits of collaborative learning. The author also mentions the five components of cooperative learning. The focus of this article is on social development as opposed to academics. Students learn how to resolve conflicts in a healthy way, how to show respect to their peers and improve their self-esteem in the process. Working in collaborative groups also improves students’ self-management, as they are responsible for their own learning as well as for helping their peers. 3w+��׎Ґ�

“Cooperative learning establishes a community in which students can get help and support from other group members immediately in a non-competitive learning environment, just raising their hands and waiting for the right answers to be given.”

“…(I)t was found that experimental group students in Boys’ and Girls’ school were equivalent in their performance after cooperative learning implementation.”
Summary
The research shown in this article demonstrates not only an academic improvement in the area of secondary mathematics, but also an improved attitude towards the subject. Students, whether male or female, had a better understanding of mathematics after being taught using a cooperative learning strategy. tive_ser�~����

“However, results also indicate that changing the instructional method is in itself not enough to discourage a surface approach and promote a deep approach to learning.”

“Whereas some students valued the opportunity to become active in discussion, many students were frustrated that it meant less time for the tutor to ‘teach’, fewer notes and ‘right’ answers’, and greater exposure to misconceptions”

“From a teaching perspective, eliciting and correcting misunderstandings is an important function of teaching complex social science concepts, and indeed, many students were happy to engage in discussion. However, seen from the perspective of those students who expected a correct and comprehensive review, essentially a lecture, eliciting misunderstandings hardly made any sense.”

“First, the task and the subject matter have to be sufficiently challenging without being too difficult. Discussing, applying and interpreting might be more meaningful tasks to cooperate on than the easier task of defining and explaining concepts. Second, the teacher has to strike a very delicate balance between supporting students and ensuring they are on track without starting to lecture. This is indeed very difficult because some students strongly prefer the teacher to elicit the correct answer rather than facing the challenging task of engaging in conversation, confronting their own misconceptions and those of peers. Finally, students are unlikely to fully engage in cooperative learning unless it is meaningful to them and to students that are not internally motivated this might imply explicitly ensuring alignment between cooperative learning activities and assessment criteria. Teachers also need to invest time carefully explaining the intention and purpose of cooperative learning and confronting conceptions of university teaching in which the teaching is the passive transmission of information from tutor to student”
Summary 

                This article states that while students tend to learn more efficiently in groups, there are many variables which affect the progress. Some of the variables are students’ previous experience working in groups, the students’ opinion of the value of group work, and how clear the teacher is in explaining the purpose of the tasks. It is also important to be sure that when analyzing the levels of participation, the researcher distinguished between physical activity, such as raising one’s hand, and cognitive ability, such as forming a deeper understanding of a concept. A downfall to cooperative learning is the confusion it may cause. Students may not feel as though they are getting correct information when all students in the group are struggling to come up with ideas.   ~����

“As a teacher aspiring to be effective, it is imperative to find alternative teaching methods that produce statistically significant improvement in students’ performance.  “

“Cooperative learning creates an interactive classroom for all students.  This interactivity may alleviate the challenges faced by lecturers and may assist in achieving other organizational objectives.”

“When students were asked to compare the teaching method used in their particular session to another teaching method, the responses from the cooperative classroom included preferences for the cooperative session because it caters for interaction, participation, and discussion.  They reported that the method allows for clarification and benefitted from the varying points of view within the classroom.  However, some students found the noisiness created by their interactions with each other disturbing and this affected their learning.”

“The findings suggest that there is no statistical difference in students’ understanding and application of the project management principle of motivation after being exposed to different methods of instruction.”
Summary
This article shows that students across all age levels and backgrounds may benefit from cooperative learning. College students who are studying project management, for example, not only learn the material more efficiently, but they also gain skills needed for their future. This profession for example requires individuals to work as a group toward a common goal, which is a skill that can be taught using cooperative learning in schools. In this study, there was no evidence of improvement of students’ learning when cooperative learning took place. The researcher makes a good point that not one method will work for all situations, and teachers need to use a variety of strategies to educate students. 7zDQyU9lM6Uk3zb%|�0��

“The results showed that cooperation promotes higher achievement and greater productivity than do competitive or individualistic modes of learning and these results were consistent across all subject areas, all age groups, and for a variety of cognitively challenging tasks.”

“In short, the results of this meta-analysis indicate that cooperative learning in comparison to competitive and individualistic learning has very powerful effects on achievement, socialization, motivation, and personal self-development.”

“Group processing is critically important as it allows members to discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships.”

“Furthermore, students worked better and achieved more when they worked in groups of 3-4 members than in groups of 5-7 members. Interestingly, the effects of group ability composition were different for students of different relative ability with low-ability students learning more in heterogeneous groups (high-, medium- & low-ability), medium-ability students benefited significantly more in homogeneous ability groups than heterogeneous ability groups while group composition made no difference to high ability students”

“Furthermore, students are more likely to achieve more when they work in groups of four or less members and preferably in mixed-ability groups rather than homogeneous ones.”

“As a consequence their language is often more spontaneous, varied, and creative and they communicate more positive affective messages to their students. This is in contrast to traditional, whole-class teaching where teachers’ language is often regarded as authoritarian, rigid, and less friendly, and teachers are often perceived as distant or impersonal.”
Summary

Students must work together towards a common goal for cooperative learning to be effective. If students are placed in unstructured groups, they will continue to work independently and not all members will contribute. This article also mentions the five key elements of positive cooperative learning groups. It was also mentioned that students working in groups should be given tasks which may not have one correct answer, or which require an explanation to promote discussion in the group as opposed to simply explaining to each other what steps to use to solve a problem. Also, teachers who use this strategy tend to be seen differently by the students. These teachers sound more open and positive than traditional teachers who want to be “in charge”. 7MxotW3w3PUNEa6�~�܌�`