Types of Cooperative Learning Groups

Adapted From Roger T. Johnson and David W. Johnson GLACIE CONFERENCE 2013

Typical Class Structures 1. Base Groups: Greeting, check homework, academic progress 2. Informal Cooperative Learning: Introduction to lecture 3. Formal Group: Activity or project 4. Informal: Summarizing the lecture 5. Base Groups: Conclusions, homework assigned, question period.

1- Formal Cooperative Learning Groups

Students work together for one or several class sessions to achieve shared learning goals and complete jointly specific tasks and assignments. Formal cooperative learning groups provide the foundation for all other cooperative learning procedures. They are structured through pre-instructional decisions, setting the task and the cooperative structure, monitoring the groups while they work and intervening to improve task work and teamwork, and evaluating students learning and processing group functioning. In formal cooperative learning groups teachers: a. Make Preinstructional Decisions: In every lesson you i. Formulate objectives ii. Decide on the size of the groups iii. Choose a method for assigning students to groups iv. Decide which roles to assign each group member v. Arrange the room vi. Arrange the materials students need to complete the assignment b. Explain the Task and Cooperative Structure: In every lesson you i. Explain the academic assignment to students ii. Explain the criteria for success iii. Structure positive interdependence iv. Explain the individual accountability v. Explain the behaviours you expect to see during the lesson c. Monitor and Intervene: While you conduct the lesson you i. Monitor each learning group ii. Intervene when needed to improve task work and teamwork iii. Bring closure to the lesson d. Evaluate and Process: You i. Assess and evaluate the quality and quantity of student achievement

ii. Ensure students carefully proves the effectiveness of their learning groups iii. Have students make a plan for improvement iv. Have students celebrate the hard work of group members Remember that if a student needs help with an assignment they should first ask their peers for assistance. Students are expected to interact with group mates, share ideas and materials, support and encourage each others academic achievement, orally explain and elaborate the concepts and strategies being learned, and hold each other accountable for completing the assignment at a high level of excellence. It is important as instructors to remember that the challenge in teaching is not covering the material for students but uncovering the material with the students. Examples are: Completing a curriculum unit, writing a report, conducting a survey or experiment, reading and answering questions at the end of a chapter.

2- Informal Cooperative Learning Groups

Student works together in temporary, ad hoc groups that last for only one discussion (a few minutes) or class period to achieve joint learning goals. Informal cooperative learning groups are used to focus student attention on the material to be learned, create an expectation set and mood conducive to learning, ensure students cognitively process the material being taught, and provide closure to an instructional session. The procedure for using informal cooperative learning consists of focussed discussions before and after the lecture and interspersing turn-to-your partner discussions throughout the lecture. 1- Introductory Focused Discussion: Plan one or two questions that will help students organize in advance what they know about the topic to be presented and create an expectation set about what the lecture will cover. Assign students to pairs or triads. Explain a) the task of answering the questions in a four-minute time period and b) the positive goal interdependence of reaching consensus. 2- Turn-to-your-partner Discussions: Divide the lecture into 10-12 minute segments. After each segment, ask students to turn to the person next to them and work cooperatively in answering a question (specific enough so students can answer it in roughly 3 minutes). This requires students to cognitively process the material just presented. The procedure is a. Each student formulates his or her answer b. Students share their answer with their partner c. Students listen carefully to their partners answer

d. The pairs create a new answer that is superior to the each members by integrating the two answers building on each others thoughts and synthesizing. The question may require the student to a. Summarize the material presented b. Give a reaction to the theory, concepts or information presented c. Predict what is going to be presented next d. Solve a problem e. Relate material to past learning and integrate it into conceptual framework f. Resolve conceptual conflict created by presentation Note: Ensure that students are individually accountable for answering the question by randomly choosing 2 or 3 students to give 30 second summaries of their pair discussions. Repeat this segment of lecture-segment and pairdiscussion until the lecture is completed. 3- Closure Focused Discussion: Give a closure discussion task that requires students to summarize what they have learned from the lecture. The discussion should result in students integrating what they have just learned into existing conceptual frameworks, point students towards what the homework will cover or what will be presented in the next class session, and identifies questions they have about what was presented. This provides closure to the lecture.

3- Cooperative Base Groups

Long-term groups (lasting for at least one semester of year) with stable membership whose primary responsibility is to give each member the support, encouragement, and assistance he or she needs to progress academically and develop cognitively and socially in healthy ways. This includes letting absent group members know what went on in class and interacting informally within and between classes, and holding each other accountable for striving to make academic progress. Besides academic support and routine tasks, the base groups are also responsible for personal support. The move from academic support to include personal support happens sooner if the teacher allows enough time, and provides the structure for the students to get to know each other personally. The larger and more impersonal the class, and the more complex the subject matter, the more important it is to have cooperative base groups. There must be a specific agenda for base group meetings so that the time is used in a purposeful way, and there never seems to be enough time to do all you want to do. All base group members are expected to contribute actively to the work of the group, develop continually better working relationships, cheer for each others

successes (thats one more for the group), express their ideas honestly, not changing their mind unless they are logically persuaded and taking responsibility for themselves and their base group members in successfully completing the class or program. Most of the time, base groups would be structured by the teacher after a week or so of getting to know the class members. A typical base group meeting might include: Greeting and two questions How are you doing personally? and How prepared are you for class today? Having students check homework or one specific part of the homework here is a good idea. This often leads to a discussion of what group members have read or done toward the course assignments since they last met. They often come to class with resources they want to share or copies of work they want to pass out and explain. A base group grid could be filled out with a new piece of information about base group members each week. Starting with relatively non-threatening questions life favorite place, best trip, birthplace etc. and extending to family background, high school experience, and favorite relative after they know each other. Grad items can also relate to the course (i.e. How would you rate your interest in the course?)

Expect some groups to jell right from the beginning and stay together long after the class or program completed. Other base groups may have relationship problems from the beginning. You may want to structure a base group meeting just to process the relationships among members. One way of doing this is to give them hypothetical problems (that arent all that hypothetical) like what do you do with the student who takes over and want to dominate? Posing problems and having the groups discuss a set of solutions (Plan A, B and C) often helps deal with problems before they arise. Persistence and patience are good instructor qualities with poorly functioning base groups.