Definition

Cooperative learning is situated within the social constructivist paradigm. Students work on projects or problems in teams with both personal and team accountability for conceptual understanding. Elements of cooperative learning are found in many of the teaching models described in this web site, including anchored instruction, cognitive apprenticeships, problem-based learning, and often case-based learning.

Download annotated Powerpoint slides describing the cooperative learning model (PDF File).

Relevant Examples

If you have created course materials at Virginia Tech that are representative of this teaching model, we would like to showcase your work here. Please contact us with a description of your project so other faculty may learn from your efforts.

Design and Development Tips

Multimedia programs can provide the incentive to "kick-off" a cooperative learning task. In structured settings such as K-12 classrooms, multimedia programs often present a scenario to an entire class (see Tom Snyder interactive group software). Each student in a cooperative team is assigned a role and a different reading, then back together, teams share and compile their data to collectively develop a solution to the situation posed. Multimedia scenarios can be developed with authoring software. To include audio and video in a scenario, additional audio and video editing programs may prove beneficial to know.

Gillan and Dubois (see reference) recommend the use of authoring programs for cooperative learning, engaging students in team research then constructionist design tasks (see constructionism model). Each student may research a small portion of a larger issue, then construct a resource with teammates to teach others about their topic. Design or project tasks may be facilitated with several software programs including authoring programs or web site editors.

Web course tools such as Blackboard and WebCT may facilitate cooperation, as they allow students to communicate asynchronously with e-mail and bulletin board tools, or synchronously with chat rooms. Further, they provide digital drop boxes where project files may be exchanged during development or constructionist activities.

Recommended Readings

  • Balkcom, S. (1992). Cooperative learning.
  • Brandt, F. (1996). Effective teaching technique: Cooperative learning.
  • Colonis, M. (1995). Structuring cooperative learning in middle school mathematics.
  • Felder, R. M. Student-Centered.
  • Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (1994). Cooperative learning in technical courses: Procedures, pitfalls, and payoffs.
  • Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (1996). Navigating the bumpy road to student-centered instruction.
  • Hooper, S., & Hannafin, M. (1988). Cooperative CBI: The effects of heterogeneous versus homogeneous grouping on the learning of progressively complex concepts. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 4 (4), 413-424.
  • Hunt, P. (1992). Acquisition of communication and motor skills within the context of cooperative learning groups in general education classrooms. (ERIC Document No. ED365061). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse.
  • Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1985). Cooperative learning: One key to computer assisted learning. The Computing Teacher, 13 (2), 12-13.
  • Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1987). Learning together and alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • McMahan, C. (1993). Developing vocabulary skills in a learning disability class through cooperative learning groups. Application Project: Module 6. (ERIC Document No. ED363870). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse.
  • Mingleton, H. V. (1993). Using a cooperative learning model to improve cultural attitudes and increase cultural literacy. (ERIC Document No. ED366521). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse.
  • Putnam, J. (1997). Cooperative learning in diverse classrooms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  • Sherman, G. P. (1994). The effects of cued interaction and ability grouping during cooperative computer-based science instruction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University.
  • Slavin, R. E. (1991). Are cooperative learning and untracking harmful to the gifted? Response to Allan. Educational Leadership, 48 (6), 68-71.
  • Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Slavin, R. E. (1996). Research on cooperative learning and achievement: What we know, what we need to know. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 43-69.