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Confessions of a Cooperative Learning Junkie

Okay, I admit I'm hooked on cooperative learning. And really, I'm a rather recent convert. I was fortunate enough to receive some great training at the hands of some very talented and committed users, thanks to the encouragement of administrators at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

I used to fancy myself a pretty good lecturer, too; you know, one of those who got great reviews, had high retention, and even made the "audience" laugh now and then. Can you imagine the blow to my over-inflated ego when I began to use cooperative learning and heard my students make remarks that evidenced they didn't understand a thing I said five minutes before their activity?

Not to sound discouraging, but it takes a while to get the hang of cooperative learning. Unless you have access to some canned activities, you may mire in planning for "positive interdependence," "individual accountability," etc. It takes time and you will occasionally have overwhelming urges to smack those who hint that "you're not doing your job," because you have the students working in your classes. (They really need to follow you around sometime to see how many steps you get in moving from group to group and see how much interaction takes place. And we're not yet even considering that it takes just a tad longer to prepare a challenging, interactive activity than it does to get the old, yellowed notes off the shelf.) And I don't do cooperative learning every minute of every day! I'm too lazy...and remember the ego trip of a captive audience. Gosh, the gurus who hop around doing consulting work say 60% of the total time is target.

You'll need to allow for some disasters which will make you want to retreat. Everyone has probably created a bean-counting activity that is better done individually or written some directions that required a lawyer¥s interpretation. Of course, it's always humbling when the directions are perceived as fuzzy, there isn't enough time to get through the activity, and the technology breaks down, so that the students can mutter as they leave the room, "it's the blind leading the blind... ."

Okay, you say, what's this lady doing talking about cooperative learning -- she's not even teaching this year?! Well, the sabbatical position has given me a chance to see what's happening in other educational communities. So I asked one of my committee members, Dr. Marilyn Carlson, a brilliant new math educator at Arizona State University, if she endorses cooperative learning in the First Year Mathematics Program that she directs. Dr. Carlson views cooperative learning and an interactive classroom as integral to creating a truly mathematically engaging experience for our students.

Have you ever heard of "constructivism?" It's one of those educational words that means a student constructs his/her own understanding of new material, connecting it to what is already known, in an effort to make sense of it. The best assimilation takes place when students are encouraged to interact and communicate their ideas to one another. Guess what? In just the few months that Dr. Carlson has been on the job to support such changes, there are clear signs of initial progress.

So why should you do cooperative learning? You've seen the research; no need to belabor that. On the softer side, you'll get to know you students better as you converse one on four instead of one on thirty-five. You'll really know what they know (or don't know!), as you hear a group deal with some bizarre deductions. You'll see them more regularly in class, because they've bonded with a group. You'll see them do work they wouldn't do for you, because they're more susceptible to peer pressure. You will hear them ask questions in a group that they wouldn't dream of asking in front of the class. You'll get to know them as real people who have skills in areas where you don't and who are doing things at work that we educators ought to know about if we're supposed to be preparing them for the workplace.

URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/labyforum/win96/win96F6.html