Cooperative+Learning

The first part of this submission, about cooperative learning is derived from a presentation by Penny Burns and myself. We gave the presentation on Wednesday 6th July 2011, during the 9:30 tutorial session.
 * Cooperative learning**

//What is Cooperative learning?// Cooperative learning is when students work in a manner that equally distributes the effort undertaken to complete a task and work together to reach the same goal.

//How is the cooperative learning used for students with additional needs?// Putnam, Markovchick, Johnson and Johnson (1996. Pg 75) have suggested, “Cooperative learning may be a necessary component of inclusion”. This is because of the benefits for all class members and especially those with additional needs.

For students with additional needs cooperative learning inspires motivation, a sense of achievement and builds relationships (Snowman et al. 2009). These benefits stem from the positive interaction between classmates and help to increase self-esteem, attitudes towards academic work, class community, equal opportunity for success and interpersonal skills. When these skills are developed in a classroom, the negative stereotyping of students with additional needs are reduced (Putman et el. 1996).

//How to teach cooperative learning:// To teach cooperative learning, according to Jenkins, Antil, Wayne and Vadasy (Forman. 2009. pg 228) there are three main factors that must be included in cooperative learning:
 * “Small groups of students working together (4-5 students only),
 * Making explicit efforts to help each other learn, and
 * Sharing in the evaluation of learning through group evaluation”.

For articles on cooperative learning and other ways to bring it into your classroom see: //[]//

__Think- pair-share__
 * //Cooperative activities://**
 * Pose a question to the group and ask them to THINK about it for about 30 seconds.
 * The students then PAIR up with the person next to them and over the next stated amount of time SHARE what they thought abut the question.
 * To them bring the thoughts of the whole group together; pairs share each other’s response to the whole class.

__Read, read, and swap__ This activity can be adjusted to suit your needs. The basic are:
 * Each student has a card, which has information to share or read to another student.
 * Students walk around the room with one hand in the air.
 * When they come across another student with their hand in the air they give each other a “high 5” and share what they have.
 * When they finish reading both their cards they swap and continue around the class finding other students to “high 5” and swap information cards with.

__**Reference List**__ Foreman, P. (2008). Inclusion in Action, 2ed Edition. Cengage Larning, Australia. Snowman, Dobozy, Scevak, Bryer, Bartlett and Biehler (2009) //Psychology applied to teaching, First Australian Edition.// John Wiley & Sons. Australia, Milton, Qld. Putnam, J., Markovchick, K., Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1996). //Cooperative Learning and Peer Acceptance of Students with Learning Disabilities//. Journal of Social Psychology, 136(6), 741-752. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. 30/06/11

In cooperative learning, all members of the group work collaboratively to complete a task or produce a single result. Cooperative learning is effective across a wide range of age groups. Whilst recognition and reinforcement are based on group performance, rather than individual performance, each student is still given a particular part of the task to perform. Usually, this is called a **‘role’**. A student’s ‘role’ allows the student to contribute to the task according to their own skills and abilities. Over time, students should be given a chance to take on as many different roles as possible, in order to practice the valuable skills required for each role. Research suggests the use of roles is particularly effective with students in primary school and even middle school.
 * USING ROLES IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING**

Of course, necessary roles are identified according to the nature of the task; however, McGrath and Noble (1993) identify a number of roles that are frequently used in cooperative learning sessions:
 * Director
 * Responsible for making sure that the task is done in the time available
 * May need to remind others of their individual tasks and to encourage group members to stay on-task
 * Skills Coach
 * Helps the group practise a particular group skill, work skill, or learning and thinking skill by modelling the skill, reminding other members how to use the skill, counting how often the group uses the skill, etc.
 * Reporter
 * Acts as a spokesperson for the group
 * Mathematician
 * Performs any calculations needed when the group is designing or planning; calculates the group’s scores
 * Recorder
 * Keeps the records of the group’s results, decisions, goals, etc; if required, writes these up on the class charts (p.43).

The use of roles in cooperative learning enables all students to understand group processes. In being assigned a specific role with specific duties, the student learns the importance of individual accountability and positive interdependence (Halvorsen & Neary, 2009), which leads to increased motivation. Conway (2008, in Foreman, 2008) further notes that the use of roles in cooperative learning enables in students the acquisition of academic skills and the development of higher order thinking skills that are related to acting in a specific role (p.229).
 * EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS**

The use of roles in cooperative learning activities allows the student with learning difficulties to be included in – and contribute to – activities that they otherwise may not be able to participate in individually ( Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2007). It also enables the student with learning difficulties to receive added attention and assistance from peers, as, in many cases, students with learning difficulties may require a coach or a team member to assist and support them within the group. S uch assistance is often provided using the language structures and vocabulary of the students, which aids understanding (Conway, 2008 in Foreman, 2008).
 * IMPLEMENTATION IN AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM**

Suitable roles for students with additional needs include the Skills Coach, Reporter, Mathematician, and Recorder. However, these roles may need to be adapted according to the student’s strengths and limitations:
 * The student may need additional equipment
 * The student may need practice in the role before the activity starts
 * The student may need instructions or lists with explanatory pictures next to each item (McGrath and Noble, 1993, p. 42).

**REFERENCES**

Conway, R. (2008). Encouraging positive interactions. In Foreman, P. (Ed.) //Inclusion in action// (2nd Ed.) (pp.198-244). South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning.

Halvorsen, A. & Neary, T. (2009) //Building inclusive schools: Tools and strategies for success//. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Mastropieri, M. A. & Scruggs. T. E. (2007) //The inclusive classroom: Strategies for effective instruction.// Upper Saddle River, NJ; Pearson Education.

McGrath, H. & Noble, T. (1993). //Different kids same classroom: Making mixed ability classes really work.// Melbourne, VIC: Pearson Education Australia.

Miller and Hall (2005, in Foreman, 2008, p.229) argue that for students to work effectively in **cooperative learning** activities there needs to be direct and explicit teaching of cooperative skills to the whole class, rather than reliance on the group to teach each other those skills.
 * TEACHING COOPERATIVE SKILLS FOR COOPERATIVE LEARNING**

For some students, this may mean teaching the basic building blocks of interaction, including non-verbal behaviours that are used in every social interaction (i.e. smiling, eye contact, tone of voice, personal space, etc.). However, the most common skills required for cooperative learning include basic and advanced group skills, group support skills, group work skills, and group learning and thinking skills (McGrath and Noble, 1993). These skills can be taught to students in primary school (K – Year 6).

McGrath and Noble (1993) identify the following steps in directly teaching cooperative skills:


 * 1) Discuss with the class why the skill is important and how it will help all students work better in groups
 * 2) Use a memory jogger (a simple summary statement) that reminds them to use the skill (e.g.”Good feedback is helpful and respectful”)
 * 3) Draw up a list of steps for doing the skill after discussing them with your students; visually present these around the classroom
 * 4) Practice the skill in controlled settings, allowing others in the class to give feedback (i.e. “What did the group do well? What’s one thing the group could have done to make it even better?”)
 * 5) Whenever you see one of your students use the skill spontaneously, give them positive feedback (p.46-47).

Smith, Patton and Dowdy (2008) argue that an outcome of directly teaching cooperative skills is the acquisition of more effective social skills.
 * EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS**

Of course, a powerful strategy used for teaching cooperative skills is that of modelling, whereby the teacher demonstrates a particular skill. However, McGrath and Noble (1993) note that students with learning difficulties are often unable to identify //which// aspects of a behaviour to imitate – as such, by purposely and precisely teaching each skill, step-by-step, students with additional needs are able to clearly identify, understand and develop the skill required for effective social interaction (p.46).

As cooperative learning provides the opportunity for students with additional needs to interact with other students on a less formal level in the normal classroom learning environment, teaching cooperative skills serves to enhance the social adjustment of students with additional needs by equipping them with the skills to create and nurture natural support networks including students without additional needs. Teaching cooperative skills is effective in increasing social inclusion in a classroom.
 * IMPLEMENTATION IN AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM**

Moreover, by teaching the skill to the whole class, every student is able to support each other in the use of each skill.

Conway, R. (2008). Encouraging positive interactions. In Foreman, P. (Ed.) //Inclusion in action// (2nd Ed.) (pp.198-244). South Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning.
 * REFERENCES **

McGrath, H. & Noble, T. (1993). //Different kids same classroom: Making mixed ability classes really work.// Melbourne, VIC: Pearson Education Australia.

Smith, T., Polloway, E., Patton, J. & Dowdy, C. (2008) //Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings// (5th ed)//.// Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

__Cooperative Learning;__

Cooperative learning occurs when students are placed in small, diverse groups where they are working together to achieve a common goal. The students working together are responsible for their team mates' learning as well as their own. By implementing ‘cooperative learning’ into mainstream classrooms students both with and without the disability will be working together, and from this collaboration all students will benefit on some level (Foreman, 2008). The students with the disabilities will benefit by gaining a sense of belonging and acceptance within society, as relationships are built between peers in the classroom. The students without the disability will also benefit as they will develop a greater understandingof their peers, as well as any individual suffering from a disability,ultimately this will teach them to acknowledge all individuals, irrespective of ability.

Cooperative Learning strategies can be implemented into almost any classroom, irrespective of age. Although when organising these cooperative learning periods, it is important to strategically place students into groups, ensuring that the students who do not work well together are not placed in the same group.

[|Special Connections] provides information about the different types of Cooperative Learning, and how to implement these into a classroom.

References;

– Foreman,P. (2008) //Inclusion in Action (2nd edition)// Australia: CengageLearning Australia Pty Ltd