Cooperative Learning - Elements

Elements

Brown & Ciuffetelli Parker (2009) and Siltala (2010) discuss the 5 basic and essential elements to cooperative learning:

1. Positive interdependence

• Students must fully participate and put forth effort within their group

• Each group member has a task/role/responsibility therefore must believe that they are responsible for their learning and that of their group

2. Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

• Member promote each other's success

• Students explain to one another what they have or are learning and assist one another with understanding and completion of assignments

3. Individual and Group Accountability

• Each student must demonstrate master of the content being studied

• Each student is accountable for their learning and work, therefore eliminating “social loafing”

4. Social Skills

• Social skills that must be taught in order for successful cooperative learning to occur

• Skills include effective communication, interpersonal and group skills

i. Leadership

ii. Decision-making

iii. Trust-building

iv. Communication

v. Conflict-management skills

5. Group Processing

• Every so often groups must assess their effectiveness and decide how it can be improved

In order for student achievement to improve considerably, two characteristics must be present a) Students are working towards a group goal or recognition and b) success is reliant on each individual’s learning

a. When designing cooperative learning tasks and reward structures, individual responsibility and accountability must be identified. Individuals must know exactly what their responsibilities are and that they are accountable to the group in order to reach their goal.

b. Positive Interdependence among students in the task. All group members must be involved in order for the group to complete the task. In order for this to occur each member must have a task that they are responsible for which cannot be completed by any other group member.