St. Edward's University

Cooperative learning activities are carefully structured learning activities in which students are held accountable for their individual contributions, participation, and learning. Students are also provided incentives to work as a team in teaching and learning from each other.

The purpose of cooperative learning groups is to make each member a stronger individual in his or her own right. Individual Accountability is the key to ensuring that all group members are in fact strengthened by learning cooperatively. Learning outcomes promoted by cooperative learning have been successful. One of the most important elements of cooperative learning involves assessing learning outcomes using both group and individual evaluations.

David Johnson, Roger Johnson, and Karl Smith provide a number of ideas that help in structuring cooperative learning activities.

Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning

Positive Interdependence

Students perceive that they need each other in order to complete the group's task ("sink or swim together"). Teachers may structure positive interdependence by establishing mutual goals (Learn and make sure all other group members learn), joint reward (if all group members achieve above the criteria, each will receive bonus points), shared resources (one paper for each group or each member receives part of the required information), and assigned roles (summarizer, encourager of participation, elaborator).

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

Students promote each other's learning by helping, sharing, and encouraging efforts to learn. Students explain, discuss, and teach what they know to classmates. Teachers structure the groups so that students sit knee-to-knee and talk through each aspect of the assignment.

Individual Accountability

Interpersonal and Small Group Skills

Groups cannot function effectively if students do not have and use the needed social skills. Teachers teach these skills as purposefully and precisely as academic skills. Collaborative and cooperative skills include leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management skills.

Group Processing

Groups need specific time to discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships among members. Teachers structure group processing by assigning such tasks as (a) list at least three members actions that helped the group be successful and (b) list one action that could be added to make the group more successful tomorrow. Teachers also monitor the groups and give feedback on how well the groups are working together to the groups and the class as a whole.

from: Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R. (1989) Cooperation and Competition. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Co.

Individual Accountability

Individual accountability results from highly structured cooperative learning activities which ensure that every student in a group participates equitably and meets the learning objectives.

Ways of Setting Individual Accountability

• Random checking
• Individual Tests
• Assigning Roles
• Jigsaw
• Signatures on Paper
• Signed Parts of Work
• Round Robin Papers
• Round Robin Answers
• Individual Work Before
• Individual Work After
• Demonstrated Skills Checked
• Discussion of Labor List Signed
• See Everyone Participate
• Give a Practice Test
• Have Them Explain Answers
• Have Them Edit Each Other's Work
• Have Them Teach it to Someone Else

Cooperative Learning Groups

• One set of answers from the group
• Everyone must agree
• Everyone must be able to explain the group's answers

Roles

• Reader
• Recorder
• Checker/Quizzer
• Encourager/participation police