Cooperative Learning and Teaching, Second Edition

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Put simply, cooperative learning (CL) represents a diverse, growing body of ideas for helping students work together effectively and happily. Put even more simply, CL means group activities done with thought. This approach combines a body of literature with each teacher’s and each class’s own experiences of, reflections on, and beliefs about what constitutes good education. In contrast to CL, group activities may sometimes take place without any forethought. Such impromptu group activities sometimes work well, but our experience suggests that forethought brings rewards. The literature from CL and related areas provides tools for action and reflection, which help teachers increase the chances that students’ group activities will be fruitful.

In Chapter 2, Why Use Group Activities? we provide background on potential advantages of group activities as well as a frank admission of problems that may arise when students work in groups. The chapter has two goals: (1) to whet readers’ appetites for using group activities because of the positive effects that student–student interaction can have and (2) to warn readers that the potential feast of learning and enthusiasm offered by group activities must be prepared with care, because obstacles await between planning and enacting lessons.

Chapter 3, Preparing for Cooperative Learning, looks at what needs to be considered before the group activities begin. Just as dinner hosts must consider how to arrange the chairs and which guests should sit together, so too must issues of seating be considered when students come together.

Chapter 4, Four Teaching Principles for Interaction, presents four principles that seek to provide the core energy and direction for CL:

Maximum peer interactions: How many student–student interactions are taking place and how well are students interacting with their peers?

Equal opportunity to participate: Do all group members have many chances to share in what the group discusses and does?

Individual accountability: Do all group members use those chances to share with their group mates?

Positive interdependence: Do group members feel they are all part of a team and that the learning of everyone on that team represents a crucial purpose of that team?

Chapter 5, Four Teaching Principles for Bonding, presents four principles aimed to keep groups together and encourage members to reach out to others beyond their small group:

Group autonomy: Does being in a group help students become less dependent on teachers?

Heterogeneous grouping: Do groups usually represent a mix of students similar to the mix of students in the whole class?

Cooperation as a value: Does students’ circle of concern extend beyond their small group?

Using cooperative skills: Does the class know and use skills that help people work together?

Chapter 6, Cooperative Learning and Positive Psychology, looks at how CL principles fit well with a relatively new approach to psychology, known as positive psychology. Its concepts are highlighted in the acronym PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.

Chapter 7, Student–Student Interaction in Virtual Classrooms, addresses how CL can be used in online learning. The chapter also looks at the many possible benefits of virtual learning. These benefits mean that virtual classmates will remain an integral part of the future of learning, regardless of pandemics.

Chapter 8, Cooperative Learning and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, focuses on the CL principle of cooperation as a value, the principle that seeks to extend cooperation beyond small classroom groups of two, three, or four members and promote the attitude of we’re all in it together on a global basis. A related attitude encourages students to see education not just as a tool for their personal and family advancement, but also as a tool to advance the progress of society.

Chapter 9, Cooperation Among Teachers, may be the book’s most important chapter. When teachers see the benefits of cooperation among their own peers, they may become more likely to encourage their students to also engage in peer cooperation. Furthermore, when teachers reflect on how to overcome difficulties in their own peer interactions, they gain insights and empathy into the difficulties their students face in CL.

CHAPTER 2

Why Use Group Activities?

This chapter explores why teachers facilitate group activities and then turns to problems that can arise. By the end of the chapter, you will be able to explain potential advantages of using group activities in your English language classes, and you will have considered ways to address potential difficulties.

Why Use Groups?

In any class, instruction can take place in one of three ways—often, the three ways are combined during the same lesson. Students can listen to the teachers and watch whatever they might be doing (e.g., leading the class to create a piece of writing) or showing (e.g., a video or app), interact with each other in groups, or work alone.

In this book, we urge you to include more small-group (2–4 members) activities in your teaching. Humans participate in group activities all the time in and out of education. Indeed, in