1 2

3 4

Cooperative Learning 317

1 11 22 2
1 31 24 2

3 3 4 4
Farm home teams
3 3 4 4

Number off 1-4

Meet in expert groups

Read, discuss, learn your partoin

Of the material

Return to home teams

Each person teaches groups

members their partion of the
material

1 2 3 4

Individuals take quiz on the

material
Figure 13.3 Illustration of a jigsaw lesson

Prepare and present a report, and evaluate the results of their work and the processes they used.
He Thelen (1954, 1960) was the first to intoduce groups investigation. He believed that the
classroom should be organized to reflect the larger social order and students should be required to
work in democratic problem-solving groups to study academic and reallife problems using
democratic processes and scientific methods of inquiry. Sharan and Hertz-Lararowitz (1980) and
Sharan and Sharan (1990) used and studied the group investigation model over two decades and
made refinements to Thelens initial model. They outlined six steps or phases in the group
investigation model. We summarize these in Figure 13.4
You will note the similarities between the phases of group investigationand the problems-
based learning model we describe in the next chapter.

Student Teams Achievement Divisions

Student Teams Achievement Divisions, or REFLECTION
STAD, is another approach to cooperative
learning. STAD was developed by Robert Slavin Which of the three models- Jigsaw, groups
investigation, or STAD- interests you
and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Uneversity in
most? With a classmate or colleague,
the 1980s. It involves students working together in arrange to axperiment with one you
groups and groups that compete with aech other. haventt used before. Visit each others
classroomand meet to provide critique and
This approach has been quite thoroughly
feedback.
researched and been shown to be effective for
helping students master declarative
318 Methods and Models of Teaching

1. Grouping
a. Present the topic
b. Clarify the topic (compile a list of questions for group inquiry)
c. Identifiy sub-topics (classify questions into categories)
d. Form investigation groups (students select the sub-topic of their choice and form groups)
2. Planning
a. Clarify the task-explore the sub-topic and formulate a research question
b. Develop an action plan (what, when-deadlines, who-individually on in pairs, resources, responsibilities)
3. Investigating
a. Prepare a daily plan
b. Research- gather information from a variety of sources
c. Analyze and evaluate the data- assess relevance of collected data related to the research topic
d. Use the data to solve the group research problem
4. Organizing the final product
a. Select the report format (learning center, guided tour, PowerPoint presentation, model, wrritten report, drama, etc.)
b. Plan the report (identify individual roles)
c. Construct the report (group members complete individual assignments or responsibilities for the final presentation)
5. Presenting
a. Groups present final reports
 b. Other groups react
6. Evaluating
a. Establish criteria for the process (effective group investigation) and the product (presentation)
b. Clarify components (roles, formative and summative assessment strategies, ratio of individual to group marks,
weighting between evaluation of process and product)
c. Check for understanding-do students understand how they will be evaluated in the group investigation activity?

Figure 13.4 Phases in group investigation

source: Summarized from Sharan and Sharan (1992)

knowledge in the from of basic facts and conceptual information. Research (Slavin, 1994) on this
approach has also revealed that it can lead to positive effects on the relationships among racial and
ethnic groups. STAD involves organizing students intosemi-permanent teams (usually together for
about six weeks) and using an improvement point scoring system. STAD is made up of five
interlocking elements, summarized in Figure 13.5

Summary of Cooperative Learning Approaches

Different approaches to cooperative learning are used for different reasons and to accomplish
different learning goals. As described earlier, some approaches are quite easy to implement while
other are more difficult. Using the Teaching Academy scenario we introduced at the beginning of
the chapter as an illustration, in Table 13.2 we summarize the various approaches to cooperative
learning and provide reasons why each might be used.

ASSESSMENT AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING

When using cooperative learning, it is important to assess both academic and social learning, an
aspect of the model that has been somewhat controversial over the years.