challenges in cooperative learning

7/26/2019 Challenges in Cooperative Learning

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Challenges in ImplementingCooperative Learning

Sayonita Ghosh Hajra

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In this paper, I discuss about Cooperative Learning. Here I briefly discuss about the

essential features or characteristics of cooperative learning, and some binary tensions that

might arise while implementing the teaching techniques for cooperative learning among

individual learners in a cooperative group.

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Table of Contents

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INTRODUCTION

In '(&! 4565, I learned about different forms of classroom discourse. 'very

wee7 listening to the class piqued my interests in classroom discourse. !he one that really

attracted me was Cooperative Learning. I perceived cooperative learning as learning in

a group, doing group tas7s with members in a group sharing the same goal. In seminars, I

have learned about courses based on cooperative learning. I was introduced with the

positive sides of cooperative learning. *ignificant numbers of literatures tal7 about the

positive effects of implementation of cooperative learning. I was curious to 7now the

tensions that might arise on implementing cooperative learning in mathematics

classroom.

RATIONALE

In this paper, I propose to discuss what cooperative learning is, what are the essential

features or characteristics of cooperative learning, what are some of the binary tensions

present or emerge within cooperative, mathematical problem solving groups and how

these tensions effect individual learners.

e8t I discuss about cooperative learning after briefly tal7ing about three main forms of

classroom instructions.

THREE MAIN FORMS OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

!he structure of a general classroom instruction is mainly classified into three main

forms2 competitive, individualistic, and cooperative 9:ohnson, :ohnson, and Holubec,

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student can be at the top. )or ones success, failures of others are necessary. (edical

schools are a classic e8ample where this environment is found.

*tandards for success are clearly communicated in an individualistic classroom. *uccess

or failure of any one student depends on that student>s individual actions. !here is no

connection of one student>s success or failure to any other student>s success or failure. It

is possible for two or more students to be on top of the class. (any high schools use this

approach for calculating standing in the graduating class.

!he cooperative classroom is based on the group success. !here is no way one can

succeed if the other in the group fails. Cooperative learning refers to methods of

instruction that organi?e classroom instruction so that groups of @+A students wor7

together to reach a common goal. Cooperative learning involves all group members who

share in process, content, and accountability 9Cooperative Learning, n.d.=. (any

researchers have affirmed that when the focus shifts from the individual to the group,

individual learning is enhanced, not diminished 9(ar?ano, @55B (ar?ano, ic7ering, D

olloc7, @55; *lavin, ;


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Having students to complete tas7s individually after instruction with those

finishing first helping other students with their wor7.

&ssigning a report to a group where one student does all the wor7 and

others put their name on it.

ow after listing the non+characteristics of cooperative learning, I will discuss what

cooperative learning is.

WHAT IS COOPERATIVE LEARNING?

!he answer to the question is very subFective answer varies from one person to another.

Cooperative learning involves students wor7ing in groups, usually mi8ed ability groups.

*tudents complete the group tas7, which requires group interdependence and assessments

are individually and group determined.

!here are different forms of cooperative learning2 *tudent !eam Learning, :igsaw, roup

Investigations and Learning !ogether.

FOUR OF THE WIDELY USED METHODS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

)our of the most widely used methods for cooperative learning are2 *tudent !eam

Learning, :igsaw, roup Investigations and Learning !ogether. !he *tudent !eam

Learning (ethod was developed by *lavin 9; overall grade is based on the collective improvement of the team members.

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!! teams consist of games and tournaments in which teams are formed with the

students of same achievement level.

!he :igsaw (ethod was developed by &ronson 9;


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interdependence is the practice of limiting the resources available to a team to

elevate the need for collaboration. 9ii= "ole Interdependence !his is based on the

concept of division of labor>. !eacher is responsible for assigning roles. !eacher

must ensure that the roles assigned to the team members are necessary for the

tas7s and that the team members 7now how to fulfill the roles. 9iii= "eward

Interdependence *ometimes teachers use rewards to intrinsically motivate

students to wor7 in a group. "ewards are given to the team not the individual

member of the group. &ll teams in a cooperative learning classroom should have

the opportunity to earn rewards. 9iv= oal Interdependence !his can be

accomplished by assigning each group one proFect to complete and submit for

grading though each team member will be responsible for individual components

in the proFect and combining together the final product.

In"#"u$% A!!ount$&"%"t'2 'ach individual in a team must be able to show

mastery of the assigned learning and should be able to document hisJ her

contribution to the team. Individual accountability is also based on the idea of

equal participation. In true cooperative learning, every individual contributes

equally for team>s success. !here are no hitchhi7ers, those that let the group

carry them along for a free ride. &nd there are no chauffeurs, those that try to

drive the team where they want to go. !eachers must ta7e specific actions to

ensure that there are no hitchhi7ers or chauffeurs on a cooperative team

9Cooperative Learning, n.d.=. !here are various ways to promote individual

accountability. !hey are+ 9i= &ssigning "oles2 &ssigning particular tas7s to each

team member could promote individual accountability. !his also comes under the

$ivision of Labor. 'ach individual can be assigned a discrete tas7 and all the

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discrete components Foined together to form the whole proFect of the team. 9ii=

Coding2 In this, different colored pens or mar7ers could be used by the team

members so that each member has a different colored pen. !hen everyone can

identify at a glance which team members have contributed what. 9iii= Kui??es and

!ests2 )ormal assessment tools can be used to heighten individual accountability.

Group Pro!e(("n)2 In roup rocessing, cooperative team members thin7 and

discuss in a group. !his is often referred to as reflection, debriefing, or processing.

!here are various ways to promote group processing. !hey are2 9i= Lesson lans +

!he easiest tool for implementing roup rocessing is the lesson plan. 9ii=

Kuestions rompt and structured questions could help students to initiate

discussion in a group. 9iii= !al7ing Chips !al7ing chips are used to ensure all

team members have a voice during group processing. 'ach team member is given

two or three colored chips different than other team members in a group. /hen

spea7ing during group processing, one must place one chip on the table. /hen the

chips are used by the individual team member, the member must wait for all other

team members to use their chips before spea7ing again. 9iv= !al7ing *tic7s

!al7ing stic7s are similar to tal7ing chips e8cept the person holding the stic7 is

allowed to tal7.

F$!e-to-F$!e Inter$!t"on2 !his indicates eye+to+eye contact in a group. *tudents

will be close enough so that they share a common material and their conversations

could be heard to each member of the group. !here are various ways to elevate

face+to+face interaction in groups. #ne is to build the physical environment in the

class by arranging the des7s so that no one is seated on an elevated platform and

no one is the head of the discussion.

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S*$%% Group $n Interper(on$% S+"%%(2 !here are four different social

interaction s7ills. !hey are basic cooperative s7ills, individual attitudes and s7ills,

team interaction s7ills and team productivity s7ills. Human beings are egocentric

and prone to individualistic and competitive. (ost students in a class have not

learned to wor7 in groups and be productive members. !eachers need to play an

important role in developing the s7ills in students to carry out the cooperative

learning.

If one or more of the critical attributes are missing in one>s lesson, then one is not using

cooperative learning but group wor7.

In e8amining the philosophies that teachers need to adopt to successfully implement

cooperative learning, 'vans, atewood and reen>s 9;


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learning e8perience. !hese individuals are often inoculated against cooperative

learning on the basis of their e8posure to group wor7 9Cooperative Learning, n.d.=.

& significant body of research and literature claims that practicing cooperative learning in

the mathematics classroom helps in increasing achievement, in motivating and in

generating social s7ills among students.

*heehy found that though she had e8perienced successful cooperative learning, fellow

teachers using cooperative learning e8perienced some difficulties in the classroom.

*heehy noticed that though students have been tested, observed, videotaped, and

analy?ed their voices seemed missing in the literatures. *heehy found that it is important

to understand students> social, emotional and mathematical e8periences of cooperative

problem solving team from students> perspectives. In *heehy>s dissertation 9*heehy,

@55E, p. ;4E=, *heehy raised the following questions2

How do students engage in and e8perience cooperative, mathematical problem

solving0

/hat binary tensions are present or emerge within cooperative, mathematical

problem solving0

How are these tensions related to students> individual mathematical activity0

*heehy interviewed three female college students data collection involved videotaping

three problem+solving sessions. 'ach problem solving session was immediately

followed by a group interview in which the participants discussed their mathematics, the

roles and effects of group members, ways in which each participant felt helped or

hindered in their mathematical thin7ing, group solving strategies, etc 9*heehy, @55E, p.

;46=. *heehy first identified the binary tensions that were identified and felt by the

participants during cooperative, mathematical problem solving e8periences. *heehy

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found that binary tensions occurred within three general components of cooperative

learning2 the environment, the group members and the individual. !he si?e, number and

access to manipulatives along with roles that group members too7 on were the aspects of

the environment promoting or creating selfJother tensions. Issues of being polite 9or being

selfish=, sharing 9not sharing= ideas, resisting 9or submitting to= perceived power were

raised by the participants as potentially problematic aspects of wor7ing with group

members and were often difficult to reconcile. &s the participants reflected on and

discussed the notion of individuality within a cooperative group, they agreed that both a

desire for individual ownership of the mathematics and a subsequent search for autonomy

led to yet other binary tensions 9*heehy, @55E, p. ;46=. *heehy found that selfJother

binary tensions limit individual mathematical activity.

e8t, I briefly discuss how the five characteristics of :ohnson and :ohnson that might

promote selfJother binary tensions.

Po("t"#e Interepenen!e2 ositive interdependence is promoted by creating specific

roles for students, providing one set of manipulatives or materials to force students to

wor7 together, and creating the goal of one Foint tas7. *heehy found that these strategies

could also be tools that diminish a student>s autonomy within a group. *heehy suggested

that the /e sin7 and we swim together motto for groups can foster an individualJgroup

tension which is difficult for students to resolve. /hen an environment is clearly

structured to promote group results and individual activity is performed for supporting

the group goals, there simultaneously e8ists the danger of fostering unhealthy, dependent

relationships. /hen a student perceives her responsibility to the group as more important

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than her responsibility to herself, individual mathematical activity is compromised and

devalued 9*heehy, @55E, p. ;4G=.

In"#"u$% A!!ount$&"%"t'2 :ohnson and :ohnson stated that teachers must assess the

contribution of individual members to the group>s wor7 in order to ensure that each

individual is accountable for doing their Fob in the group>s wor7 9*heehy, @55E=. *heehy

observed that regardless of however meaningful this contribution, students feel pressured

to contribute an idea or the completion of a tas7 to their group>s activity. *heehy noticed

that the assessment of individual accountability indicates that mathematical activity

supporting the group is valued more than activity enhancing individual learning.

Group Pro!e(("n)2 !he purpose of group processing is to clarify and improve the

effectiveness of the members in contributing to the efforts to achieve the group>s goals

9*heehy, @55E, p. ;GB=. )or group processing to be effective, teachers should provide

students with organi?ed format for discussion. roup processing promotes behavior that

promotes the group goal rather than behavior that promotes mathematics. If the group

goal was to solve a specific problem, then group processing would center on questions

li7e2 /hat did each group member contribute to finding this formula0 How could your

group wor7 together tomorrow to solve problems more effectively0 /hat is one thing

each individual could improve on0 If individual mathematical activity was privileged in

group processing, questions would center on questions li7e2 /hat was the first idea each

participant had0 How many different representationsJideas were discussed0 How were the

ideas connected0 How did the group agree upon one representation0 /hy0 How would

each member proceed with or e8tend the problem0

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F$!e-to-F$!e "nter$!t"on2 !eachers and students generally interpret social interaction as

a required characteristic of effective learning in cooperative groups. & student who does

not engage in conversation is often referred to as a free+rider or antisocial or is accused

of not supporting and contributing to the group. !he e8pectation of interaction might

create a social pressure on group members to share their own ideas and suggestions as

well as listen to those of others. Hence selfJother binary tension emerges when

individuals believe that their individual mathematical activity is valued only when it is

shared and possibly only when the group ta7es it up. 3ecause students do not feel free to

reflect quietly on their own mathematics or to dismiss the ideas of others without polite

consideration, the e8pectation of interaction could significantly hinder mathematical

activity of the individual learner 9*heehy, @55E=.

S*$%% Group $n Interper(on$% S+"%%(2 :ohnson and :ohnson said that teachers must not

only hold individuals accountable for what they contribute to their group, but also for

how they contribute and interact with other group members. *heehy found that although

the ability to wor7 with other people is an important characteristic to develop with

students, the selfJother binary tensions this structure creates not only leads to a decreased

focus on individual learning but also on mathematics altogether. !he findings of *heehy>s

study reveal that if a student perceives manners rather than mathematics as privileged in a

cooperative learning environment, the student tends to do what is socially e8pected rather

than what furthers student>s own mathematics. !his privileging leads to a number of

problematic outcomes such as, students abandoning their own ideas in order to be

respectful of others, forfeiting their own reflection time in order to actively participate in

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group activity, or accepting one solution instead of many in order to arrive at one agreed

on group solution.

CONCLUSION

Cooperative learning is a firmly established pedagogy that is present in both classroom

and curricula. (any research literatures claims the implementation of cooperative

learning in mathematics classrooms results in increased achievement, motivation, and

social s7ills among students 9*heehy, @55E, p. ;4B=. *heehy observed many binary

tensions among individual learners in cooperative problem solving sessions. !herefore, it

is important for teachers and educators to understand the issues and tensions emerging

from cooperative learning before trying to implement it in their own classrooms.

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REFERENCES

'vans, ., atewood, !., D reen, . 9;


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'den, (2 Interaction.

(ar?ano, ". :. 9@55B=, hat wor!s in schools" Translating research into action, &le8andria,-&2

&ssociation )or *upervision D Curriculum $evelopment.

(ar?ano, ". :., ic7ering, $. :.,, D olloc7, :. '. 9@55;=. Classroom #nstruction That

or!s" $esearch%&ased Strategies 'or #ncreasing Student (chievement.

&le8andria, -&2 !he &ssociation for *upervision and Curriculum $evelopment

9&*C$=.

*haran, *., D *haran 1. 9;

challenges in cooperative learning

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