2. ELT. General Supervision
State of Kuwait
Ministry of Education
ELT. General Supervision
Day 1
Strategies for
Cooperative Learning

3. Icebreaker: One is not quite right!
Introduce yourselves and make three or four
statements about yourselves, one of which is
false. Then get the rest of the group to vote on
which fact is false.

4. Together Everyone Achieves More

5. Objectives of this session
Recognise the differences between COOPERATIVE and TRADITIONAL learning.
Define “cooperative learning”.
Discuss reasons for using cooperative learning in our classrooms.
Identify some elements of cooperative learning.
Identify and practice some cooperative learning strategies.
Discuss some challenges facing the application of cooperative learning.

6. Traditional and Cooperative Learning Groups
Activity 1
Traditional and Cooperative Learning Groups
What Is the Difference?

7. Cooperative Learning Versus Traditional learning
Cooperative learning is just one form of classroom/student learning structure.
Other forms include:
Individualized (criterion-based grading system)
Competitive (norm-based grading system)
Cooperative learning is perhaps the most important of the three types of learning situations, yet it is the least used (<20% time).

9. Cooperative Group Traditional Group Positive interdependence
Individual accountability
Heterogeneous membership
Shared leadership
Responsible to each other
Social skills directly taught
Teacher observes & intervenes
Group processing occurs
Mutual assistance
No interdependence
No individual accountability
Homogeneous membership
One leader
Responsible only for self
Skills assumed or ignored
Teacher ignores groups
No group processing
Competition

10. What is Cooperative Learning?
Activity 2
What is Cooperative Learning?

11. Cooperative Learning: Definitions
Cooperation -- working together to accomplish shared goals
Cooperative Learning -- the instructional use of small groups wherein students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning
Instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal
People working under conditions that involve both positive interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome).
Cooperative learning, is also called collaborative learning, occurs whenever students interact in pairs or groups to share knowledge and experiences.

12. Cooperative Learning: Traits ( Common elements)
Shared learning goals -- working together to accomplish shared goals
Desired outcome in which the students demonstrate as a group and individually a mastery of the subject studied
Goal structure -- specifies the ways in which students will interact with each other and the teacher during the instructional session
Small groups working on a structured activity – Students of different levels of ability
Occurs when the essential components required for each cooperative activity are ensured.

14. The more students work in cooperative learning groups,
… the more they will learn
… the better they will understand what they are learning
… the easier it will be to remember what they learn
… the better they will feel about themselves, the class and their classmates.

15. Outcomes include:
Higher achievement and greater productivity
More caring, positive, supportive, and committed relationships
Greater psychological health, social competence, and improved self-esteem.
Acknowledgment of individual differences
Interpersonal development
Active involvement in learning
More opportunities for personal feedback
Deeper understanding of content

16. Other outcomes include:
Higher motivation to remain on task
Active and constructive involvement in content
Ownership of their own learning
Solving group conflicts
Improvement of teamwork skills
Increased student retention
Enhancement of student satisfaction with their learning experience
Development of skills in oral communication
Development of students' social skills

17. Grouping Patterns

18. 1.Informal cooperative learning groups:
They are:
temporary groups that last for only one discussion
or one class period.
Their purposes are:
to focus student’s attention on the material to be
learned,
set a mood conducive to learning,
help organize in advance the material to be covered in
a class session,
ensure that students cognitively process the material being taught,
and provide closure to an instructional session.
They may be used at any time and can last a few
minutes or a class period .

19. 2.Formal cooperative learning groups:
Designed for students to have enough time to thoroughly complete an academic assignment.
May last several days or weeks.
Design tasks include:
Positive interdependence
Face to face promotive interaction
Individual and group accountability
Social and Interpersonal Skills
Group processing

20. Activity 4
Suggest class activities that use cooperative learning

21. Examples of cooperative learning activities Think-pair-share,
Role-plays,
Open-ended free conversations,
Information-gap activities,
Problem solving,
Storytelling,
Cooperative projects,
Paired interviews,
Sharing opinions, debating, narrating, describing,
and explaining

22. Examples of cooperative learning activities Jigsaw / Expanded jigsaw
Group Investigations (PBL)
Structured Problem Solving
Team-Pair-Solo
Numbered Heads Together
2 x 4 Debate
Stump your partner

23. Elements of Cooperative Learning
1-Positive Interdependence  (sink or swim together)
Each group member's effort is required and indispensable
for group success.
Each group member has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort because of his or her resources and/or role and task responsibilities.

24. Elements of Cooperative Learning
2. Face-to-Face Interaction  (promote each other's success)
Orally explaining how to solve problems
Teaching one's knowledge to other
Checking for understanding
Discussing concepts being learned
Connecting present with past learning

25. Elements of Cooperative Learning
3. Individual & Group Accountability
Keeping the size of the group small. The smaller the size of the group, the greater the individual accountability may be.
Giving an individual test to each student.
Randomly examining students orally by calling on one student to present his or her group's work to the teacher (in the presence of the group) or to the entire class.
Observing each group and recording the frequency with which each member contributes to the group's work.
Assigning one student in each group the role of checker. The checker asks other group members to explain the reasoning and rationale underlying group answers.
Having students teach what they learned to someone else.

26. Elements of Cooperative Learning
4. Interpersonal &Small-Group Skills
Social skills must be taught:
Decision-making
Trust-building
Leadership
Communication
Conflict-management skills

27. Elements of Cooperative Learning
5. Group Processing
Group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships.
Describe what member actions are helpful
and not helpful.
Make decisions about what behaviors to continue
or change.

28. Activity 5
What are some of the challenges you might face when you apply cooperative learning?

29. Conclusion: Cooperative learning:
Cooperative learning has the best and largest
empirical base of any educational innovation.
Cooperative processes have been shown to advance
higher-level conceptual learning.
Cooperative learning at the high school level is well
worth exploring.

30. REFERENCES
David and Roger Johnson. "Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October
David and Roger Johnson. "An Overview of Cooperative Learning." [Online] 15 October
Howard Community College's Teaching Resources. "Ideas on Cooperative Learning and the use of Small Groups." [Online] 15 October
Kagan, Spencer. "Kagan Structures for Emotional Intelligence." [Online] 15 October "
College Level One — Collaborative Learning Page. On the web at:
Panitz, T. (1996). A Definition of Collaborative vs Cooperative Learning. On the web at:

31. Thank You
Thank You