Learning, Remembering, Believing Enhancing Human Performance (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Learning
Pages 83-112
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 83... ...
We then consider in detail the research on cooperative learning in adult populations and its implications for future research and implementation. In general, this chapter focuses on studies that compare cooperative and individual learning on the basis of dependent measures of individual achievement 83
|
From page 84... ...
This positive interdependence presumably leads to productive activities during the cooperative episode and subsequently to positive outcomes on individual achievement measures.
|
From page 86... ...
To remedy this situation, pretraining for the cooperative episode (phase A2) involving social skills training (e.g., Mesch et al., 1988)
|
From page 87... ...
Pretraining, direct support and scripting of the cooperative episode, postcooperation activities, and assessment of transfer to new individual learning tasks are only rarely included. GENERAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND FINDINGS Overview Two Theoretical Perspectives Two general theoretical perspectives appear to have guided research on cooperative learning.
|
From page 88... ...
The bottom strand of Figure 5-2 illustrates the cognitive-developmental perspectives. In this case, the specification of information processing activities and the provision of processing supports creates explicit process interdependence (e.g., depending on others for feedback)
|
From page 90... ...
In the absence of coal interdependence, there is no interaction: participants work independently, focusing on increasing their own achievement while ignoring as irrelevant the efforts of others. In the context of this chapter, social interdependence theory assumes that positive cooperative efforts are based on motivation that is generated by joint aspirations to achieve a significant goal and bY interpersonal factors such as being part of a mutual effort, a joint sense of purpose and meaning, social support, and positive relationships among group members.
|
From page 91... ...
reviewed 68 studies of cooperative learning in elementary and secondary schools; each involved durations of at least 4 weeks and compared individual achievement gains due to cooperative learning with those of control groups. Slavin reports that of 43 studies of cooperative learning methods that provided group rewards based on the sum of group members' individual learning outcomes, nearly all found positive effects on achievement.
|
From page 92... ...
Although there clearly needs to be some incentive for individuals to engage in cooperation, the cognitive-developmental perspective would suggest that, once engaged, the cooperative activities themselves are motivating and, to some extent, self-sustaining. Consequently, group rewards based on subsequent individual achievements are considered to be largely unnecessary.
|
From page 93... ...
Overall, the research on cooperative learning provides sufficient evidence to establish the efficacy of this approach for enhancing individual achievement under some conditions. This literature also provides some initial ideas about
|
From page 94... ...
Furthermore, the lack of focus on individual differences in cooperative learning has limited the use of more powerful statistical methods for finding between-group differences and has precluded the examination of interaction effects. In general, as cooperative learning research moves beyond the effect demonstration stage, it behooves researchers to incorporate more of the precise methodologies used in research on individual learning .
|
From page 95... ...
However, most researchers would agree that one of the primary criteria for effective cooperative learning is the facilitation of individual achievement and performance. In this regard, there are far fewer studies that have successfully demonstrated advantages for cooperative versus individual learning.
|
From page 96... ...
First is context. In comparison with grade school and middle school, adult courses in colleges and technical settings are usually shorter duration and faster paced, leaving much less instructional time for cooperative activities.
|
From page 97... ...
These cognitive and communication characteristics and deficits suggest that adult cooperative episodes may need to be carefully scripted in order to encourage participants to engage in the type of cognitive activities necessary for enhanced learning. In general, this analysis of differences between adults and children suggests that the cognitive-developmental and social interdependence perspectives may be more potent than the social-behavioral, incentive-structuring perspective in examining and structuring adult learning.
|
From page 98... ...
Although the weight of the evidence suggests that cooperative learning can be effective in adult settings, the few published findings of no differences and the fact that such findings are generally underreported suggest that positive conclusions be drawn cautiously. There have been relatively few controlled laboratory studies of the effects of cooperative learning on individual achievement with adult subjects.
|
From page 99... ...
, -- -. -- Adult Cooperative Techniques: Group Rewards and Scripts As noted above, the primary goal of cooperative techniques is to increase task motivation or promotive interactions between group members in order to enhance learning.
|
From page 100... ...
Hagman and Hayes (1986:20) acknowledged and elaborated on this issue: Although the present experiment used group rewards to encourage withingroup communication, any cooperative procedure that ensures meaningful communication among group members should also promote individual achievement.
|
From page 101... ...
Some of the most promising research with adult learners encourages all members of the group to focus on all aspects of the material with explicit scripting, including structured controversy (D.W. Johnson et al., 1986~; reciprocal peer tutoring (Fantuzzo et al., 1989a)
|
From page 102... ...
Participants first mobilize their resources for learning by establishing an appropriate mood and by surveying the text to establish cooperative action points (asterisks in the margin to indicate where they will stop reading and engage in cooperative information processing)
|
From page 103... ...
Research with college students enacting versions of the murder script without group rewards have shown that it leads to better individual outcomes than unscripted cooperative scenarios in which the participants determine their own cooperative activities. This outcome is not surprising given the adult learner characteristics described above.
|
From page 104... ...
have developed a procedure for structuring experimental controversies in coopera .
|
From page 105... ...
Presumably the spatial and graphic signaling provides for easier reference during group discussion. On the basis of these findings, it would be expected that any visual aid that enhances the availability and accessibility of information during cooperative interactions could lead to more productive cooperative information processing and thus more positive individual outcomes.
|
From page 106... ...
Adult cooperative learning can be more effective than individual learning across a variety of topics and tasks. However, because of the complexity of adult learning tasks, explicit cooperative scripts that encourage promotive interactions may be necessary to reap the benefits of coop
|
From page 107... ...
that increase the availability and accessibility of material during cooperative processing appear to enhance individual outcomes. · Transferrable individual learning skills can be acquired as a byproduct of well-scripted cooperative episodes.
|
From page 108... ...
In contrast, the conceptual approach trains instructors to be engineers who adapt cooperative techniques to their specific circumstances, students, and needs. The specific planning and adaptation required of instructors by the conceptual approach may promote more personal commitment to and ownership of cooperative learning than the direct approach (D.W.
|
From page 109... ...
In such informal cooperative learning groups, learners engage in (1) an introductory focused discussion aimed at promoting advance organizing of what the trainees know about the topic to be presented and establishing expectations about what the lecture will cover; (2)
|
From page 110... ...
, cooperative approaches may actually require less resources than individual learning approaches since cooperative group members can often share computers and laboratory materials. However, greater classroom space may be needed to accommodate increased noise levels during coop .
|
From page 111... ...
COOPERATIVE LEARNING 111 in conjunction with a variety of educational approaches further enhances its attractiveness. NOTE fit is important to note that one could ask the symmetric question: What factors control the effectiveness of individual learning that make it superior to some central condition of cooperative learning?
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.