“You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother” said by the remarkable Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein Quotes, 2003), who didn't learn to talk until he was four, could not learn to tie his own shoes and was very behind his classmates in learning how to read. Despite all this his resilience let him to receive the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921.
Definition
Cooperative learning is a Teaching strategy where small teams of students or adults with different abilities work together using a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject (Ward, 1987) . Students use and develop a variety of personal skills, communication, listening, collaboration …show more content…
Interaction with peers is likely to result in cognitive disequilibrium. Inadequate reasoning will be exposed, and higher-quality understandings will emerge If students value peers and are dependent on each other they will be likely to help one another to reach their goals. Retention of knowledge in memory needs cognitive restructuring. Explaining material to someone else is an effective means of elaborating.
The five elements of cooperative learning.
(Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998), discussed 5 key aspects of cooperative learning.
1- Positive interdependence a teacher or student may ask themselves what unique contribution is each person make. For example, has everyone learn the material and how can we help them learn it?
2- 2- Individual accountability, has everyone done their fair share of the work and what role can each person play?
3- Face-to-face promotive interaction how can I share and encourage others ideas? How can we make our sharing and communication better?
4- Group process how effective was the group work? Did everyone contribute …show more content…
On a given signal, they turn to the nearest pair and discuss a question or a suggested topic. This is repeated for several pairings” (Collaborative/Cooperative Learning, 2009).
3- Team jigsaw – “Students are placed into teams to work on material that has been divided into sections (Aronson, Blaney, Stephan, Sikes, and Snapp, 1978)” (Adams, 2013).
Think-pair-share
Step one the teacher poses a question to the whole group about a topic or concept.
Step two students get think time to think about the topic concept on their own.
Step three the teacher then pairs students and share what they know about the topic. Note: Good idea for the teacher to pre-arrange these small groups strategically.
Step four the teacher brings the whole class together again and everyone shares their ideas.
What are the benefits of