10.02.06
R.M. Felder and R. Brent, (2001).”Effective Strategies for Cooperative Learning.” J. Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10(2), 69-75
R.M. Felder and R. Brent, (2001).“Effective Strategies for Cooperative Learning.” J. Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10(2), 69-75
A FAQ for using cooperative learning. There was a large section on the practical aspects of the groups themselves including: group construction, group use, group problem solving, group dissolution, and firing of a group member. The article also covered how cooperative learning might interact with previous grading policies. They touched on how groups might artificially inflate grades and how grading on a curve goes against the basic theory that cooperative learning is based on. The article finishes talking about distance learning and different ways that cooperative learning might be used in those situations like using electronic media for the groups to communicate.
I thought I would read something that was not straight research for once. I had to smile near the end because they talked about student objections to cooperative or group learning and one of the examples is that students pay a teacher to teach not to watch them talk. We just covered this in TE 150 and my students were pretty convinced that this type of learning was more valuable. But the article didn’t really cover how to make the cooperative learning meaningful learning because they focused so much on the practicalities so I don’t think they really answered the question completely. Anyway, I never really was a fan of group learning as a undergraduate student but I never would have complained about it, after all, it meant less work for me and more brains to think on the problems.
