Cooperative learning

Cooperative learning is a method of instruction that has students working together in groups, usually with the goal of completing a specific task. It Help students develop leadership skills and the ability to work with others as a team. Gifted students are often placed in groups with non-gifted children, sometimes with the goal of having the gifted student help the others, either directly or by example. In these instances, the gifted student is not likely to learn anything new, while the non-gifted students are not likely to develop any leadership skills

Cooperative learning:

• Is different from group work
• Is more structured than group work
• The teacher must be fully prepared before coming t class
• Such preparation incorporate selecting the members of the group(heterogenous)
• One form cooperative learning is the peer work 

 

• Positive interdependence
• Individual accountability
• Social skills
• Processing ( evaluation)

This is an observational report that illustrates the cooperative learning in class room.

I observed a class of science grade 5, in a private school in south Lebanon (Hassbaya). Students were about 10 to 11 years old, distributed equally between girls and boys. Before attending the class the teacher was interested to talk with me in order to understanding what happened during this class. The teacher said that her objectives was to allow student to describe gas exchange at the level of lungs and organs and perform an experiment to improve that the exhaled air is rich in carbon dioxide (Inductive method).After students have acquired the concepts of inhalation and exhalation the aim of teacher was that student will be able to discover what happens after air arrives to the lung and then in organs.

 In the class, Students were divided into groups of four of different abilities (as teacher said).

Each having a drawing for the lungs and blood passing to it, each group was allowed to perform an experiment by them.

Student were very active and liked to participate and can go on in discussions. They like to perform experiment and describe it. Each group got 2 figures to use in determining the gas diffusion and the science book they have.

For the experiment they got a 50 ml beaker, lime water and strew.

During this work, interpersonal, linguistic and spatial intelligence were targeted. The teacher was playing the role of facilitator moving between groups and interfering when needed. The teacher strategy was the cooperative learning when students are also engaged in explanation and discovering the knowledge.

Before starting the class, the teacher asked one student of each group to recall what they learned in the previous lessons, to check their entry level and readiness to new concepts. Each student was supposed to continue what his friend started with so they were active learner to each other. At the end of the lesson they were asked to fill up a figure related to the topic and to describe the diffusion of gasses at the level of the lungs and organs. In team working all students were engaged in working, students were given different roles for each. There was the writer, checker, time controller and leader. Students were given 10 minutes to read the document in the book   and discuss it, 15 minutes to use the 2 figure and fill the other one. After the teacher explained the experiment they had 10 minutes to perform it.

There were social interactions between students as well as competition between groups to get the best score. The interested point in this class that low achievers were better performing in such groups because they feel safe environment.

The performance methods were variables from analyzing and solving documents, performing an experiment and writing a brief description about the gas diffusion and the experiment. Cooperative learning in such groups enabled more students to be involved in class discussion since each group represents a small class. It creates challenge between groups and communities and challenge is a good way that pushes the students to give and participate from the deep heart not only as an obligatory work.

Students obeyed the time limitation to finish each task, but they were talking in high voice in acceptable manner. Each one was working according to his/her role. There were nice interaction; students were negotiating, not depending on the leader. Giving those figures helped in triggering their critical thinking to deduce and link things to each other instead of just getting knowledge. And making the experiment in groups gave the chance for all students to share and blew in the lime water and so it would be unforgettable.

At the end of class the teacher gave homework in order to assess whether the students understand or not.