Definition of cooperative (co-op) program.
Theories of Learning in Cooperative and Work- Integrated. USA The principal goal Of any educational program is to facilitate student. Somers (1995), and Wessels and Pumphrey (1995). Their findings have helped to define.
Cooperative definition, working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit. Cooperative Learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task. The task can be as simple as solving a multi-step math problem.
Cooperative Learning - Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology. Guinevere Palmer, Rachel Peters, Rebecca Streetman. Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia. Review of Cooperative Learning. Introduction. Scenario. Mrs. Solomon teaches a 9th grade Careers course.
Cooperative federalism. This arrangement, which has been termed “a program of cooperative federalism,” Hodel, supra, is replicated in numerous federal statutory schemes. These include the Clean Water Act, see Arkansas v.
The class consists of a mixture of ESOL students with limited English proficiency skills, . There are also several students with special needs including learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.
Solomon is concerned because there are a high number of students currently failing her class. She has noted that, while the high achieving students tend to score well on Multiple/Choice and True/False questions, none of the students do well on application and scenario- type questions. Frequent absences, along with an apparent lack of motivation among students are also abundant in Mrs. In addition, she has noticed a high number of arguments among the students. In an attempt to better manage her class, she assigned seats. She has determined that the seating arrangement has only escalated the arguments.
Solomon would like to find a way to overcome the difficulties within her classroom and also be able to instill these students with the skills necessary to become productive contributors to the workforce. Her first attempt was to lecture just as her teachers had done when she was in school. She found that the students were bored and often fell asleep. While most students performed average on objective tests, she had no way of measuring whether the students were grasping the concepts well enough to transfer that knowledge to real- world applications. Any attempts at class discussions during the lecture tended to yield little or no response from the students. Students that did show interest were notably confused.
She also found that some of the students were disrespectful to her during the lectures. She read that students tend to retain more information when a computer is incorporated into the lessons, so she thought it would be worth a try. She found an interactive CD to supplement the textbook and allowed students time during each unit to work from the CD. Although the computer managed to pique the interest of more students than the lecture did, she found that a large number of students were off task. They would rush through the assignment, if they did it at all, so that they could play games and/or go on the internet. She also felt that the use of the computer without any other forms of instruction prevented students from interacting with one another; thus, the computer- based learning activities were not promoting the interpersonal skills needed for successful employment.
Solomon decided to try group work. Because of the already escalating tension due to class dynamics, she was reluctant to assign a monumental task on the first try. Instead, she opted for a basic assignment and allowed the students to pick their own groups.
She wanted to test their problem- solving and communication skills without interference from an authority figure, so Mrs. Solomon gave the students their assignment and waited at her desk for the students to come to her with questions. When she became alarmed at the noise level in the classroom, she finally decided to walk around the room to observe the groups. She was disturbed to find a number of students off- task. Several groups did not even attempt the project, and spent their time initiating conflict with the other groups. As the social problems among the students escalated, the students' test grades continued to be below average.
The high- achieving students grouped together while the ESOL and special education students were left together with no leadership in the group. Solomon was devastated because she felt that she had lost control of her classroom. Feeling frustrated and defeated, she finally decided to seek help from another teacher in her department that was known for her outstanding teaching abilities. The other teacher suggested she try cooperative learning. The main purpose of cooperative learning is to actively involve students in the learning process; a level of student empowerment which is not possible in a lecture format. The underlying premise is founded in constructivist epistemology.
It is a process which requires knowledge to be discovered by students and transformed into concepts to which the students can relate. The knowledge is then reconstructed and expanded through new learning experiences. Learning takes place through dialog among students in a social setting.
Cooperative learning utilizes ideas of Vygotsky, Piaget, and Kohlberg in that both the individual and the social setting are active dynamics in the learning process as students attempt to imitate real- life learning. By combining teamwork and individual accountability, students work toward acquiring both knowledge and social skills. It is a teaching strategy which allows students to work together in small groups with individuals of various talents, abilities and backgrounds to accomplish a common goal. Each individual team member is responsible for learning the material and also for helping the other members of the team learn.
Students work until each group member successfully understands and completes the assignment, thus creating an . As a result, they frame new concepts by basing their conclusions on prior knowledge. This process results in a deeper understanding of the material and more potential to retain the material.
Learning occurs through student dialog in a social setting. Individuals in the scenario were randomly assigned to one of three teams to eliminate any unfair advantage: A, B, or C.
Our focus, Team A, consists of two strong individuals and four less strong, each possessing various talents, abilities, and backgrounds. Since none of the children has any prior knowledge of rowing, they must work together to develop an effective strategy to accomplish a common goal- to win the race! The teams have a practice race on days one and two, culminating in a final race on day three. Initially, Team A races with little thought and organization to strategy.
After evaluating their performance on day one, team members change the power distribution so they can race in a straight line. This strategy helps day two's heat, but they realize they did not consider uneven stroking, which hindered their performance. After deciding to assign a person to call out the stroke timing to ensure exact strokes, they assimilate their ideas and apply their strategies on day three with success. This animation was designed and developed by Emily Adams, Chad Mote, Jon Scoresby, and William Dang (2.
There are two major theoretical perspectives associated with cooperative learning: motivational and cognitive (Swortzel, 1. First, because students perceive that their success or failure is dependent upon their ability to work together as a group, students are likely to encourage each other to do whatever helps the group succeed. They are also more likely to help each other with the task(s) at hand. Therefore, cooperative learning increases student motivation to do academic work (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1. Because cooperative learning creates a situation in which students must explain and discuss various perspectives, a greater understanding of the material is obtained. Elaborative thinking is promoted because students give and receive explanations more often (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1. Because the level of discussion within groups is significantly greater than in instructor led discussions, students receive immediate feedback, thus advancing the level of discussion.
It is through this process of interacting with students of differing viewpoints that cognitive growth is stimulated. Emphasis is placed on learning how to cooperate in order to find the best possible solution to a problem. According to the constructivist approach, when students formulate their own solutions in this manner, they are truly thinking critically (Davis, Mahler & Noddings, 1. Cooperative Learning. Collaborative and cooperative learning are so closely related that the two terms are often used interchangeably.
However, let's take a moment to address the similarities and differences in the two. Both learning theories assign specific tasks, both use groups, and both require the students to share and compare their findings. In both cases, discovery approaches are used to teach interpersonal skills and student talks are stressed as a means for working things out. It is a teaching methodology in which . In this setting, not only is the group assessed as a whole, but students are also individually accountable for their work.
Solomon to better manage her classroom and help to keep the students on task. By following the guidelines presented in this chapter, Mrs. Solomon will be able to help her students use cooperative learning to acquire the knowledge necessary to reach the objectives of the course.
One is a GIF image, one is an MSWord document, and the last is an Inspiration file in version 7. Click here to see the image. Click here to download the word document. Click here to download the Inspiration file. Caption: All three of the above links show the same conceptual model. There are three phases of the implementation of cooperative learning.
The first phase is the pre- implementation phase which includes: specifying instructional objectives, determining group sizes and assigning students to groups, arranging room, planning instructional materials to promote interdependence, assigning group roles, assigning tasks, explaining criteria for success, structuring positive interdependence and accountability, and specifying desired behaviors. The second phase is implementation which includes: monitoring behavior, intervening if needed, assisting with needs, and praise.
Definition of Cooperative by Merriam- Webster.