Recently Jalu flew to a small city Sekayu, about 3 hours from Palembang, to deliver a 3-day workshop on Cooperative Learning at SMAN 2 Sekayu under Sampoerna Foundation arrangement. This 3-day workshop were attended by around 40 public teachers from teachers of middle and high school in the district of Sekayu. Jalu, modeled some interactive methods of learning for students to make the learning process full of fun and student engagement. Teachers were involved in fun, applicative games for their teaching through round robin, think-pair-share, STAD, and jig-saw techniques in learning and planed their teaching to see the implementation of the training directly into classes.
Cooperative learning was proposed in response to traditional curriculum-driven education. In cooperative learning environments, students interact in purposely structured heterogeneous group to support the learning of oneself and others in the same group. Cooperative learning explicitly builds cooperation skills by assigning roles to team members and establishing norms for conflict resolution via arbitration. Cooperative learning should also provide the means for group reflection and individual self-assessment. "Cooperative learning (CL) is an instructional paradigm in which teams of students work on structured tasks (e.g., homework assignments, laboratory experiments, or design projects) under conditions that meet five criteria: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and regular self-assessment of team functioning. Many studies have shown that when correctly implemented, cooperative learning improves information acquisition and retention, higher-level thinking skills, interpersonal and communication skills, and self-confidence (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1998)."
Cooperative learning was proposed in response to traditional curriculum-driven education. In cooperative learning environments, students interact in purposely structured heterogeneous group to support the learning of oneself and others in the same group. Cooperative learning explicitly builds cooperation skills by assigning roles to team members and establishing norms for conflict resolution via arbitration. Cooperative learning should also provide the means for group reflection and individual self-assessment. "Cooperative learning (CL) is an instructional paradigm in which teams of students work on structured tasks (e.g., homework assignments, laboratory experiments, or design projects) under conditions that meet five criteria: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and regular self-assessment of team functioning. Many studies have shown that when correctly implemented, cooperative learning improves information acquisition and retention, higher-level thinking skills, interpersonal and communication skills, and self-confidence (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1998)."
Three Theoretical Perspectives
- Behavioral
- Groups stimulate and punish
- Groups offer more pros than they do cons.
- Cognitive / Constructivist
- Knowledge and Learning are social in nature.
- Learning comes from figuring out unexpected occurrences together.
- Social Interdependence
- Cooperative
- Group as a 'dynamic whole'
- Positive Tension
- High levels of interaction
- Competitive
- Negative Tension
- Cooperative
Grouping
Heterogeneous vs. Homogeneous Grouping
- Heterogeneous Groups
- High Achievers never lose
- Usually better
- Male/Female pairs most off task
- Homogeneous Groups
- Low Achievers fastest to quit
- More interaction in all female groups than all male
Benefits of Cooperative Grouping
- Increased Self Efficacy
- Increased Retention
- Higher Motivation
- Preference for Future Coop-Learning Episodes
Building Better Groups
- Outcome Interdependence
- Goal attainment depends on group
- Means Interdependence
- Members carry out vital, distinct yet overlapping roles
- Individual Accountability
- Feedback from members
- When needed assistance
- Reassign tasks to promote balance
- Task Complexity
- Task is too complex for any single member to complete it.
Cooperative vs. Competitive Learning
- In Cooperative Learning, learners must work together in order to succeed and personal success only springs from group success.
- In Competitive Learning, in order to succeed, other learners must fail.
