When is cooperative learning most appropriate

The assessment of student achievement highlights individual and group accountability i. The group celebration is a form of reward interdependence.

The feedback received during group processing is aimed at improving the use of social skills and is a form of individual accountability.

Discussing the processes the group used to function, furthermore, emphasizes the continuous improvement of promotive interaction and the patterns of interaction need to maximize student learning and retention. During a lecture, demonstration, or film, informal cooperative learning can be used to focus student attention on the material to be learned, set a mood conducive to learning, help set expectations as to what will be covered in a class session, ensure that students cognitively process and rehearse the material being taught, summarize what was learned and precue the next session, and provide closure to an instructional session.

Two important aspects of using informal cooperative learning groups are to a make the task and the instructions explicit and precise and b require the groups to produce a specific product such as a written answer. The procedure is as follows. Introductory Focused Discussion: Teachers assign students to pairs or triads and explain a the task of answering the questions in a four to five minute time period and b the positive goal interdependence of reaching consensus.

The discussion task is aimed at promoting advance organizing of what the students know about the topic to be presented and establishing expectations about what the lecture will cover.

Individual accountability is ensured by the small size of the group. A basic interaction pattern of eliciting oral rehearsal, higher-level reasoning, and consensus building is required. Intermittent Focused Discussions: Teachers divide the lecture into 10 to 15 minute segments.

This is about the length of time a motivated adult can concentrate on information being presented. After each segment, students are asked to turn to the person next to them and work cooperatively in answering a question specific enough so that students can answer it in about three minutes that requires students to cognitively process the material just presented.

The procedure is:. Teachers should ensure that students are seeking to reach an agreement on the answers to the questions i. Randomly choose two or three students to give 30 second summaries of their discussions. Such individual accountabilityensures that the pairs take the tasks seriously and check each other to ensure that both are prepared to answer. Periodically, the teacher should structure a discussion of how effectively the pairs are working together i. Group celebrations add reward interdependence to the pairs.

Closure Focused Discussion: Teachers give students an ending discussion task lasting four to five minutes. The task requires students to summarize what they have learned from the lecture and integrate it into existing conceptual frameworks. The task may also point students toward what the homework will cover or what will be presented in the next class session. This provides closure to the lecture. Informal cooperative learning ensures students are actively involved in understanding what is being presented.

It also provides time for teachers to move around the class listening to what students are saying. Listening to student discussions can give instructors direction and insight into how well students understand the concepts and material being as well as increase the individual accountability of participating in the discussions. In order to ensure the base groups function effectively, periodically teachers should teach needed social skills and have the groups process how effectively they are functioning.

Typically, cooperative base groups are heterogeneous in membership especially in terms of achievement motivation and task orientation , meet regularly for example, daily or biweekly , and last for the duration of the class a semester or year or preferably for several years. Permanent cooperative base groups provide the arena in which caring and committed relationships can be created that provide the social support needed to improve attendance, personalize the educational experience, increase achievement, and improve the quality of school life.

A typical class session may begin with a base group meeting, which is followed by a short lecture in which informal cooperative learning is used.

The lecture is followed by a formal cooperative learning lesson. Near the end of the class session another short lecture may be delivered with the use of informal cooperative learning.

The class ends with a base group meeting. Johnson, Placing people in the same room, seating them together, telling them they are a group, does not mean they will cooperate effectively. Mastering the basic elements of cooperation allows teachers to:. Tailor cooperative learning lessons to unique instructional needs, circumstances, curricula, subject areas, and students. Diagnose the problems some students may have in working together and intervene to increase the effectiveness of the student learning groups.

The first and most important element is positive interdependence. If one fails, all fail. If there is no positive interdependence, there is no cooperation. The second essential element of cooperative learning is individual and group accountability.

The group must be accountable for achieving its goals. The group has to be clear about its goals and be able to measure a its progress in achieving them and b the individual efforts of each of its members. Individual accountability exists when the performance of each individual student is assessed and the results are given back to the group and the individual in order to ascertain who needs more assistance, support, and encouragement in completing the assignment.

The purpose of cooperative learning groups is to make each member a stronger individual in his or her right. Students learn together so that they can subsequently perform higher as individuals. The third essential component of cooperative learning is promotive interaction, preferably face-to-face. Cooperative learning groups are both an academic support system every student has someone who is committed to helping him or her learn and a personal support system every student has someone who is committed to him or her as a person.

The fourth essential element of cooperative learning is teaching students the required interpersonal and small group skills. In cooperative learning groups students are required to learn academic subject matter taskwork and also to learn the interpersonal and small group skills required to function as part of a group teamwork. Cooperative learning is inherently more complex than competitive or individualistic learning because students have to engage simultaneously in taskwork and teamwork.

Group members must know how to provide effective leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management, and be motivated to use the prerequisite skills.

There are also several students with special needs including learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. Solomon is concerned because there are a high number of students currently failing her class. Frequent absences, along with an apparent lack of motivation among students are also abundant in Mrs.

In addition, she has noticed a high number of arguments among the students. In an attempt to better manage her class, she assigned seats. She has determined that the seating arrangement has only escalated the arguments. Solomon would like to find a way to overcome the difficulties within her classroom and also be able to instill these students with the skills necessary to become productive contributors to the workforce. She has tried a number of teaching methodologies.

Her first attempt was to lecture just as her teachers had done when she was in school. She found that the students were bored and often fell asleep. While most students performed average on objective tests, she had no way of measuring whether the students were grasping the concepts well enough to transfer that knowledge to real-world applications. Any attempts at class discussions during the lecture tended to yield little or no response from the students.

Students that did show interest were notably confused. She also found that some of the students were disrespectful to her during the lectures. She also decided to try to make her classroom more student-centered by turning to a computer-based curriculum. She read that students tend to retain more information when a computer is incorporated into the lessons, so she thought it would be worth a try.

She found an interactive CD to supplement the textbook and allowed students time during each unit to work from the CD. Although the computer managed to pique the interest of more students than the lecture did, she found that a large number of students were off task.

She also felt that the use of the computer without any other forms of instruction prevented students from interacting with one another; thus, the computer-based learning activities were not promoting the interpersonal skills needed for successful employment. As a last resort, Mrs. Solomon decided to try group work. Because of the already escalating tension due to class dynamics, she was reluctant to assign a monumental task on the first try. Instead, she opted for a basic assignment and allowed the students to pick their own groups.

She wanted to test their problem-solving and communication skills without interference from an authority figure, so Mrs. Solomon gave the students their assignment and waited at her desk for the students to come to her with questions. When she became alarmed at the noise level in the classroom, she finally decided to walk around the room to observe the groups. She was disturbed to find a number of students off-task.

Several groups did not even attempt the project, and spent their time initiating conflict with the other groups. The high-achieving students grouped together while the ESOL and special education students were left together with no leadership in the group. Solomon was devastated because she felt that she had lost control of her classroom. Feeling frustrated and defeated, she finally decided to seek help from another teacher in her department that was known for her outstanding teaching abilities.

The other teacher suggested she try cooperative learning. Cooperative learning utilizes ideas of Vygotsky, Piaget, and Kohlberg in that both the individual and the social setting are active dynamics in the learning process as students attempt to imitate real-life learning. By combining teamwork and individual accountability, students work toward acquiring both knowledge and social skills. It is a teaching strategy which allows students to work together in small groups with individuals of various talents, abilities and backgrounds to accomplish a common goal.

Each individual team member is responsible for learning the material and also for helping the other members of the team learn. As a result, they frame new concepts by basing their conclusions on prior knowledge. This process results in a deeper understanding of the material and more potential to retain the material. There are two major theoretical perspectives associated with cooperative learning: motivational and cognitive Swortzel, First, because students perceive that their success or failure is dependent upon their ability to work together as a group, students are likely to encourage each other to do whatever helps the group succeed.

They are also more likely to help each other with the task s at hand. The other theory is that cooperative learning helps students acquire critical thinking skills. Because cooperative learning creates a situation in which students must explain and discuss various perspectives, a greater understanding of the material is obtained.

The use of cooperative learning CL also helps students clarify concepts and ideas through discussion and debate. Because the level of discussion within groups is significantly greater than in instructor led discussions, students receive immediate feedback, thus advancing the level of discussion.

It is through this process of interacting with students of differing viewpoints that cognitive growth is stimulated. Emphasis is placed on learning how to cooperate in order to find the best possible solution to a problem. Collaborative and cooperative learning are so closely related that the two terms are often used interchangeably.

Both learning theories assign specific tasks, both use groups, and both require the students to share and compare their findings. In both cases, discovery approaches are used to teach interpersonal skills and student talks are stressed as a means for working things out. Collaborative learning has British roots and is based on the findings of English instructors who explored ways to help students take a more active role in their learning.

In this setting, not only is the group assessed as a whole, but students are also individually accountable for their work. A climate such as that created by cooperative learning will help Mrs. Solomon to better manage her classroom and help to keep the students on task. By following the guidelines presented in this chapter, Mrs. Solomon will be able to help her students use cooperative learning to acquire the knowledge necessary to reach the objectives of the course.

After deciding to implement cooperative learning, the biggest challenge will be planning and readying the classroom and students for CL. According to Johnson, Johnson, and Smith , there are several tasks that an instructor must accomplish before implementing cooperative learning in the classroom. This section will detail those responsibilities.

Specify Instructional Objectives academic and social of CL — The instructor must explain why she is using CL, describe its benefits, and the results typically found from using CL. To aid in this explanation, the instructor might produce and distribute a handout that describes collaborative learning. These groups can be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Groups can be formed by putting students together who share common strengths, interests, etc, or they can be randomly assigned.

Once the groups are assigned, though, they should not be changed too often; students need time to develop a cohesive group and work together for a while before moving to a different group. Further, research tools should be made easily available either in the classroom or in another room near the classroom see, Resource-based Learning chapter for a more detailed discussion of this.

Assign group roles — There is some debate about whether or not the instructor should play a role in this decision. Whether or not an instructor chooses to assign roles within a group, they should make sure there is a distinct role for each student.

Also, the instructor should choose or assist the students in choosing roles that use their strengths and improve their areas of weakness. Some of the roles that could be chosen or assigned include facilitator, timekeeper, recorder, checker for understanding , summarizer, elaborator on prior knowledge or discussion points , research-runner gets materials , and wild card does anything else that needs to be done.

Assign task — When picking an assessment task product to be produced , the instructor should choose one standard to address and match it to the learning approach. It should also be a performance driven and authentic task.

The instructor should clearly explain procedures for the task, provide structure especially useful for inexperienced CL students , and set a specific time frame for each part and the whole task.

Finally, the instructor should question the students to check for understanding of the task and its procedures. Explain Criteria for Success — The instructor should communicate the group-work skills that will be evaluated. Structure positive interdependence and accountability — Group size should be kept small so that each member participates and contributes uniquely to the group. To accomplish this, the instructor can conduct mini-lessons on ways to respect others i. Students also need to be trained in conflict-resolution.

Finally, it would be wise to use icebreaker activities before beginning so that students find that they have something in common. Before the actual implementation of cooperative learning, students also have several tasks. First, they can help the instructor generate an evaluation rubric, and they could possibly help design the assessment task if the instructor is willing to let the students participate in this capacity.

As illustrated in the scenario at the beginning of the chapter, the students in Mrs. Groups will inherently have different ways of approaching the task and assigning value to ideas. Requires tolerance and some degree of appreciation for the fact that students will have different learning styles.

Self-Selected Groups -- teacher allows students to make their own groups. Relatively easy for most students to find a group. Students will prefer this option and will be pleased that it was chosen.

Can lead to cliques and the maintenance of the social hierarchy and political structure in the class. Difficult to use other systems after students have gotten comfortable with this Lotan, It is usually easier and most students will be happier. With each successive exercise in which self-selected grouping is allowed, our students will become more accustomed to the process and increasingly develop a sense of entitlement that it is their right.

At that point they decide to begin the process of re-assigning groups, not anticipating the strong and defiant reaction of the students. This reaction is especially forceful from those students who feel that they have the most to lose by a new arrangement.

These types of displays can take us by surprise. They can be spiteful and expose the lack of community and egalitarian socio-politics in the class. While the temptation is to be angry toward the student who displays the sense of entitlement or discrimination, the fault actually lies with the choice made weeks earlier to allow self-selection of groups.

The event could have been prevented. Moreover, it represents evidence that instead of cooperative learning activities promoting community, they have actually been undermining the democratic values in the class Rubin, Do you see much evidence of cliques and a social hierarchy within the group?

Why do you think this is the case? A good standard to use in these cases is students stop caring about who is in their group they are ready for the privilege of choosing their own. One of the transformative effects of a high quality cooperative learning process is that it helps students get past their pre-formed perspectives of one another. In observing those teachers who have mastered this process, it is evident that students of every social sub-group work together in their classes.

In secondary schools, it is common to observe a class of students look past social class and personality one period, and then go right back to using the same forms of prejudice and narrow mindedness the next.

What this says is that attitude is context-specific to a great extent. Progress toward egalitarianism and equanimity may not occur quickly, but effective teachers show that it is possible eventually. When in doubt, default to mixed ability groups. Ability grouping has its place, but it has some serious disadvantages. It can quickly define a culture of haves and have-nots.

The effect of this will be to undermine the sense of community in the class. Mixed ability groups have many advantages including providing opportunities for stronger students to take on the role of peer tutor and weaker students to benefit from having the stronger students in their groups. For example, if we created groups of experienced computer users and groups of less experienced users and had students self-select, in this case it is less likely that students will feel stratified than if we placed them into high and low ability groups in an area that they felt represented a fundamental aptitude.

Random grouping often produces relatively desirable results and can be done rather efficiently. For example, with a little practice but we do need to practice , our students can get used to numbering off into groups in a matter of a minute or two.

The following sequence can be effective. First, count the students. Second, mentally divide the number of students by the number that you want to have in each group; that is your count-off number. Third, instruct them to count off. Be sure that the students say their group numbers out loud. This will save you the trouble of learning that when you say the numbers, the groups often end up with disproportionate sizes.

Having students say their numbers promotes both memory and honesty. Another system is for you to create random groups before the event and then simply read them off. Numbering off -- sample direction sequence:.

When we get into groups, I will explain what we are doing. Students count and stay put until they are all done. It is best when grouping by learning style to use mixed-style groups. Refer to the previous chapter for more ideas related to how to translate your knowledge of learning style into student success.

Introverts may be more reflective while extroverts may be more outgoing. Practical skills may come more easily to sensates, while intuitives may be more comfortable with imagination. When considering learning style as a means to creating heterogeneous groups, teachers may be most successful in their efforts by attempting to find students for each group from each of the four academic types described below.

The chart below shows the four possible combinations or academic types. Extroverts E. Introverts I. Sensates S. This type loves action and things happening. They like to get practical results from their work and like to work in groups. For them too much watching is a waste of time, they want to do. They like to share what they are doing and thinking. They get impatient when things are too slow, complicated, or abstract.

This type is the most careful and steady. They don't mind working alone or with one other. They like practical results and are good with details and technical things. They are often the least expressive; they see much but usually share little. They don't like careless ideas, plans, or too many new things at once.

Intuitives N. This type is really motivated and likes to make things happen. They like to work in groups on new and interesting things. They like to take their theories and apply them with others. They share easily, especially what's inside. They don't like details, routines, or the same old thing for too long. This type is the best at solving problems.

They like to work at their own pace on their own ideas. They like to make creative and scientific things. They would rather express themselves through their thoughts, instead of socializing with lots of others. They don't like doing busy work or things that don't make sense.

Grouping using the principles prescribed by the Situational Leadership Model Appendix E will involve the highest level of complexity and the lowest level of convenience but will bring other less obvious variables into the equation. It has the potential to have a substantially positive effect on the social dynamics in the class.

It may seem like the process of grouping is a formality. To us it may simply represent a line on our lesson plan and a procedural necessity. But to students it is significant Lotan, ; Rubin, The make-up of their group is the major defining factor in their experience. During this process it will be essential to mirror the affect that will be the most beneficial for our students to take on.

If students are tentative about their team, we need to mirror to them optimism about how great the groups look and how we see great combinations. If we buy in to the temptation to make changes and adjust groups based on friendships or who is or is not getting along, we: 1 send the message that we believe that some students are not capable of getting along with others; and 2 put ourselves a position to be asked to do so in the future because we have just reinforced that behavior re: the social learning model.

As a matter of protocol, it seems to be a more effective practice to create groups first and then give out the task and directions. Doing things in this order will help students be in the moment and attentive when we explain to them the task they are about to undertake. Student Roles within the Group.

First, it provides students a clearer sense of what to do in the process. Second, assigned roles make it more likely that the necessary roles and duties will ultimately be performed. For example, if there were no designated manager or recorder, the function of a group may be limited and certain tasks may never get performed.

Third, students learn that roles are useful in the accomplishment of collective efforts. They come to understand that those who can fulfill a certain role within a group can often be more valuable than those who are highly talented but provide a less focused contribution.

Fourth, if roles are rotated regularly, students have the opportunity to take on roles that they may not otherwise have taken on normally. Some students will feel very comfortable taking the role of recorder but may never volunteer to be in a leadership position unless that role has been assigned to them.

On the other hand, the student who has an expressive persona and comfort with a leadership role may always find themselves taking over unless they are expected to fulfill another role that requires other skills. While it may not be entirely comfortable for students to work outside their natural strength areas, it provides them an opportunity to develop areas that could use growth.

An added consideration is the opportunity to learn appreciation for effective performance in roles previously avoided. This contributes to admiration for others when they perform those roles. If you had your choice would you take the same role each time? Have you experienced growth when required to take on roles that were not your first choice? In the early stages of development, it is usually most effective to assign roles to group members.

This can be done randomly or purposefully. If different roles are assigned often and randomly, this usually ensures that all students will have the opportunity to take on multiple roles. However, if you are concerned that all students may not have the opportunity to take on each role -- or you simply do not want to take chances -- you may want to keep records and be purposeful about rotating roles.

A simple technique for assigning roles is to use physical objects on the four walls of the room or yard. We can simply assign certain roles to those closest to certain objects.

I will pass out the directions shortly. Those closest to the window are the recorders. Resist the temptation to feel sorry for students who did not get a role they wanted or apologize to them. Do your best to do a great job of your role and help your group. Chapter Reflections f: When would you choose to assign roles and when would you let the students do what comes naturally? When do we let the groups work without roles? A useful principle may be when students have shown that they have the skills to execute the task without them, or roles are really not applicable to the task.

This requires your judgment and depends on the situation. Even when they have shown the ability to work without roles assigned, there are other benefits to incorporating roles in the future to some extent.

Students may slip back into entrenched patterns or may lose sight of the value of clarifying responsibilities. A transitional step is asking the groups to select roles internally. In this case, we might offer them a simple system such as numbering off if they cannot easily decide by a more democratic method. The answer is -- whatever roles the activity requires. It can be counterproductive to be too tied to any established roles that you or others have used.

Examine the task and ask yourself what jobs are needed for the success of that particular task. The most meaningful roles should emerge. It may be helpful to create an evolving written catalogue of roles and their descriptions you can print for each substantive cooperative activity.

Pasting that list into the assignment sheet will bring another level of clarity to the assignment. Later in the chapter we will discuss an effective method for making the job description of each role more concrete and meaningful and encouraging students to value the importance of their role.

Time Frame and Nature of the Task. Defining the time frame of the task may seem like common sense, but it is a critical factor in the process Slavin, Whether the activity is three days or 30 minutes long, students must be able to pace their efforts and adjust to the level of urgency or reflection required.

What are the priority tasks that need attention? What needs to be done carefully? How much time is there for brainstorming or discussion? In most classes there will be groups who tend to oversimplify the task and do it quickly. These efforts are usually missing something that the teacher thought would be included, or do not reflect the kind of deeper processing that we were looking for.

There will be groups who may want to over-complicate a task that was intended to be straight forward. These groups can become paralyzed by the idea-generation process and never get to the execution of the process. Especially early in the year, you may want to give timeframes for the duration of each piece of the process.

You may suggest that groups be patient and not simply take the first idea that comes to them. You may want the students to engage in formal brainstorming see Figure Conversely, you may want to offer a timeframe for when certain aspects of the process need to be complete, so that the group will have sufficient time for the later portions of the task.

Quantity is the point. The whole point of brainstorming is the flow of ideas is not immediately separated into good and bad ones. Obviously, your chances of finding good ideas increase if you have a really long list of ideas to choose from. Free-wheeling is necessary. You can't generate a good number of ideas if you restrict them in any way.

Don't worry about saying something "silly. Defer judgment. Build on other people's ideas. Or a variation of an idea on the board could be the next 'velcro' idea. It is this building of concepts that leads to out-of-the-box and high quality thinking. A useful tool in the effort to structure the task and timeframe is to have students develop benchmarks for the product at intervals along the way. These provide the students with concrete stages of completion that can be motivating and reassuring.

They provide the teacher evidence that the group is on track as well as offering a convenient venue for giving formative feedback. For example, if the assignment is a group research project, the teacher might ask to see evidence, ensuring progress by all groups, of the following components, on paper, at pre-determined points:.

It will be necessary to structure the room physically so that students can easily interact with their fellow cooperative group members. We will also want to make sure that we are able to move easily within the room. Four chairs placed around medium sized tables provided one solution; however this option is not available to many of us.

Placing four desks into pod shapes is a configuration that many teachers use. This configuration is depicted in Figure As we discussed in the previous chapter, the relationship between assessment and classroom management is a powerful nexus that is given a fraction of the attention it warrants. It is especially significant when it comes to cooperative learning. What we assess tells the students what to care about and what constitutes success. We might begin by asking ourselves a few defining questions.

Do we want to assess formally or informally? Do we want our unit of analysis to be the individual student or the group as a whole? Do we want to focus more on the final product or on the process and level of investment the students make along the way? Each of these choices will have a significant effect on the way that students approach the task and what they will infer to be a successful performance.

Individual Accountability. Group Accountability. No Formal Assessment. Fine, as long as the task is inherently engaging and you want to promote internal LOC.

May not provide enough motivation for tasks that are less inherently interesting, or for students who need a little external incentive. Formal Self- Assessment. Good for having the students reflect on their process effort.

Shifts the LOC of assessment to students. Problematic when trying to promote accountability. Peer Assessment. However, this method often leads to one of the following problems: 1 the reliability of the ratings are usually suspect due to social dynamics; and 2 putting students in the position of rating one another is often perceived as unfair or uncomfortable.

Process Assessment. Helps motivate the student to put forth full effort and be cooperative. Helps motivate the group to work through problems, collaborate and use the prescribed process format. Product Assessment. Does not readily promote cooperation skills. Helps motivate students to create a quality outcome, but may lack the ability to reward effort and desired process along the way. Using no assessment is clearly less trouble, however, it makes the statement that every effort is the same as every other effort.

If this is true, incorporating no formal assessment is a valid option. However, if we are assessing other areas of achievement e. Self-assessment can be an excellent tool for groups who have demonstrated a high level of responsibility and skill at the cooperative learning process.

It can also be a useful adjunct assessment system to teacher-based assessment as a way of promoting more self-reflection. However, translating it into a grade is extremely difficult and should be avoided. It can be a valuable process for students to informally self-evaluate the quality of their performance and the performance of those in their group, yet when that evaluation is then translated into a grade, it typically leads to a great deal of damage.

Moreover, it is likely that popular students will be graded more favorably by their peers than students who do not possess the same level of political capital. Typically, many students are honest when there is no cost but much less honest when they recognize that they will be penalized for being self-critical. Chapter Reflection g : In your experience, would you say that when students fully invest in the process the products usually work out pretty well?

Conversely, would you say that a good product assumes that a group of students has invested in the process fully? When we assess process outcomes, we typically find that it has the effect of promoting a greater level of student investment in the process. Moreover, when students invest fully in the process, the products they produce usually reflect their high quality investment. Chapter 20 outlines a detailed system for assessing the quality of student participation and process.

Many of our learning targets during cooperative learning activities will be in the areas of processes, skills and dispositions. If we have learning targets and goals in these areas but do not use an assessment system that supports them, then we have in essence built failure into our instructional design. Many teachers who do not currently incorporate process assessment into their teaching dismiss its potential, yet teachers who do incorporate some process or behavioral level assessment recognize the powerful effect it can have to positively shape the quality of the student performance.

There are many benefits to having the individual as the unit of analysis of process assessment. Some challenges of using cooperative learning include releasing the control of learning, managing noise levels, resolving conflicts , and assessing student learning.

Carefully structured activities can help students learn the skills to work together successfully, and structured discussion and reflection on group process can help avoid some problems. The authors of Classroom Instruction that Works cite research showing that organizing students in cooperative learning groups can lead to a gain as high as 28 percentiles in measured student achievement Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock Other researchers report that cooperation typically results in higher group and individual achievement, healthier relationships with peers, more metacognition, and greater psychological health and self-esteem Johnson and Johnson When implemented well, cooperative learning encourages achievement, student discussion, active learning, student confidence, and motivation.

The skills students develop while collaborating with others are different from the skills students develop while working independently. As more businesses organize employees into teams and task forces, the skills necessary to be a "team player" e. Using cooperative groups to accomplish academic tasks not only provides opportunities for students to develop interpersonal skills but also gives them authentic experiences that will help them be successful in their future careers.

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