The selection of methods of teaching is of the important work for the teacher to make the teaching more interesting and effective. The emerging method of teaching nowadays is cooperative learning. However, there are different types of method of teaching which are;
b) Project method
c) Inductive Deductive method
d) Survey method
Let us discuss the cooperative learning method in detail:
What is the Cooperative learning method?
In this method of learning, students work together in small groups to achieve a common goal. The success of one student depends on the hard work of other students. In other words, we can say that in cooperative learning, students swim or sink together.
Features of Cooperative Learning:
1. Students work in groups to learn about a particular concept.
2. Rewards are given to the group rather than individual students.
3. The group includes students of different intellectual levels.
4. The group is heterogeneous, consisting of students of different castes and genders.
Principles of Cooperative Learning:
● Principle of equal participation:
In a group, every student has to perform his or her duty. No student dominates the other student.
● Principle of Interdependence:
The success and failure of each student depend on the other students.
● Principle of interaction:
cooperative learning is based on the principle of interaction. Usually in the classroom, students speak only with the teacher, but in groups, students from different social and economic backgrounds talk with each other.
● Principle of autonomy:
The students in a group should be provided autonomy while doing projects so that they can express their ideas and thoughts.
● Principle of collaborative skills:
In a group, different students have different skills; some may have language skills, some have writing skills, and others have speaking skills.
Steps in the Cooperative learning Method:
● Choose an approach:
In the first step, the teacher has to decide which technique of cooperative learning is to be followed: STAD, JIGSAW, reciprocal teaching, or round-robin brainstorming.
● Choose Content:
Another step is to choose the content for the students. Content must be chosen according to the interests, needs, and intellectual level of the students.
● Formation of teams:
The third step is to divide the whole class into different groups. Each group consists of students of different genders, castes, and intellectual levels.
● Develop material:
Teachers usually provide material such as worksheets, verbal information, and study guides to help the students with cooperative learning.
● Distribution of tasks:
The next step is to assign the tasks and responsibilities to the students. The teacher is responsible for the assignment of the tasks.
● Plan for the use of time:
The last time is to fix the time in which the assignment has to be completed.
Types of Cooperative Learning:
1. STAD:
○ This technique was developed by Robert Slavin in 1978.
○ STAD stands for Student Team Achievement Divisions.
○ The teacher first presents the topic in the classroom.
○ After the presentation of the topic, the teacher will divide the whole class into different groups. Each group consists of 4–5 students. The teacher will provide the worksheets to the students.
○ The students will discuss the topic with each other and clear up all the doubts relating to the topic. They will work on the worksheets given by the teacher. ○ Then the teacher will evaluate each student through the quizzes. Students are not allowed to help each other with the quiz.
○ The teacher will recognize the group with the help of bulletin boards, which show high individual weekly performance.
2. JIGSAW:
○ This technique was developed by Elliot Aronson.
○ In it, the assignment is divided into different parts. The whole class is divided into groups. One group consists of 4-6 students. These groups are called jigsaw groups or home groups.
○ The assignment should be divided into parts that are equal to the number of JIGSAW groups. Each student from the group has been assigned one part of the project for reading independently.
○ After reading, the students meet with students from other groups who have been assigned similar parts of the assignment. They work together on the topic, clearing up all their doubts and misconceptions.
○ After the discussion, students return to their original JIGSAW groups or home groups. Each student presents their presentation on the topic, and other students
listen carefully and ask questions related to the topic. In the same way, other students in the same JIGSAW group present their topic on their own.
○ In the end, the teacher will assess the students based on their content.
3. Round-robin brainstorming:
○ In this technique, the class is divided by the teacher into different groups. Then the teacher asked the question from the students. Each student writes the answer in their notebooks. Here, the teacher is a silent observer, but at the same time, if students find it difficult to generate ideas, the teacher can intervene and assist the students.
○ Then the students take turns presenting their answers to the rest of the group. One student acts as a recorder and writes down all the ideas.
○ In the end, each group shares their ideas with the other groups in the classroom, and the teacher will assess the performance of each group.
4. Reciprocal teaching:
○ This technique is used to improve reading comprehension skills.
○ In it, the class is divided into groups of 4 students. The teacher and students collaborate with each other.
○ It includes four strategies: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. Each student is given a strategy to follow.
○ In predicting, students are asked to tell what the text is about. means to tell what the text is about.
○ In clarifying, students clarify important vocabulary. In questioning, students are said to ask relevant questions and then
○ In summarizing, the students summarize the text.
Advantages of cooperative learning:
● Improvement in abilities:
Cooperative learning develops communication skills among the students as they speak without any hesitation and present their ideas.
● Promote higher achievement:
When students work together to achieve a common goal, the chances of achievement increase as high-academic students guide the poorer-academic students.
● Development of abilities:
Another benefit of cooperative learning is the development of various abilities such as confidence, tolerance, cooperation, creativity, and leadership.
● Development of new ideas:
As the students discuss the topic with each other, it encourages the generation of new and creative ideas. Students motivate each other.
● Mastery over content:
In cooperative learning, students share and discuss their thoughts, views, and ideas on the topic, which leads to mastery over content.
Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning:
● Lack of teacher interference:
As the role of the teacher is minimised in this method, the class will be noisier.
● Less contribution of students:
In this method, the whole class is divided into groups that consist of students from different social, economic, and academic backgrounds. So the chances of conflict among the students increase.
● Less effective for gifted students:
This method is not effective for mentally disabled and gifted students.
● Not suitable for all subjects:
This method is not suitable for all subjects, such as mathematics and science, as the students need the teacher’s attention and interference.
● Shortage of trained teachers:
For the effective implementation of cooperative learning, the teachers should be trained. They should give proper instructions to the students related to cooperative learning. But we all know that there is a shortage of trained teachers.
In short, we can say that a teacher must know which method of teaching is to be adopted. The teacher should select the method of teaching according to the needs and interests of the students.
