Benefits of Cooperative
Learning in the
Classroom
Created by:
Sumiah Alluhaidan, Nada Ciric, Jessica Fortuna, and Timothy Zaun
Interpersonal skills
Collaborative Learning Benefits
Participants in many ways
\
Critical Thinking
Individual
accountability
Academic
Achievement
Motivation and
Retention
Learning Disabilities (LD)
Greater access to general education curriculum
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children
in classroom activities
Cooperative Learning and LD
Students
Cooperative learning is an instructional method, or peer-assisted
learning strategy where students work together in small groups to help
each other learn. (Sencibaugh and Sencibaugh, 2016)
Cooperative groups tend to stay together for many weeks or months
Cooperative groups average 2-4 students
Hone interpersonal skills, including active listening, giving good
explanations, avoiding putdowns, and including other people
Two Essential Conditions for
Successful Cooperative Learning in LD
Classrooms
1. Recognition or small reward provided to groups, so members can see
that it is their interest to help their groupmates learn
2. Individual accountability-group success depends on individual learning of
all group members, not on a single product
Structured vs. Unstructured
Cooperative Learning
Structured-student groups trained by teachers to use smallgroup and interpersonal behaviors, including accepting
responsibility, encouraging group involvement and sharing
resources.
Unstructured-receive no training and have equal time to
develop a plan for collaborative problem solving.
Benefits of Cooperative Learning in
LD Classrooms
Special education students engaged in cooperative learning tend to view
the experience as valuable and helps them learn. They gain peer
acceptance, make friends with regular education classmates and improve
their behavior in the classroom (Putmnam, Markovchick, Johnson, &
Johnson, 1996).
Like school more
Enhanced self-esteem
Learn more effective social skills
Cooperative Learning Examples in LD
Classrooms
Peer tutoring
Peer-assisted learning (PAL)
Group problem solving
Games related to lesson plans, i.e. record keeper,
timer, Etc.
Interpersonal Development and Critical Thinking
How does collaborative learning help?
Click the computer to find out
Interpersonal Development and Critical Thinking
How does collaborative learning help?
Click the computer to find out
Students learn to relate to their
peers and other learners as
they work together in group
enterprises. This can be
especially helpful for students
who have difficulty with social
skills. They can benefit from
structured interactions with
others (Source Website).
Interpersonal Skills and Critical
Thinking
Students will develop conflict
resolution skills to resolve issues
within the group.
Enables students to bond socially
with others in and outside of
school to work on project.
Learning how to communicate
ideas and issues with team
members in a constructive
manner, a life skill needed in
college and the workplace.
Students are exposed to different
opinions, broadening their
understanding of concepts in
question
Teaches students to put the group
ahead of the individual give and
take
Students will share knowledge
readily if they believe others will
share knowledge with them,
enhancing understanding of the
task at hand (Lee, Parsons, Kwon,
Kim, Petrova, Jeoung, Ryu, 2016).
Individual Accountability
In addition to being able to work with
different personality types, the student
will learn to hold themselves
accountable for making sure that they
participate equally.
Students learn the importance of
following through on what they agree to
carrying their own weight
Holding themselves to deadlines and
specific objectives
Academic Achievement
Research has shown that
students who work in cooperative
groups do better on tests,
especially with regard to
reasoning and critical thinking
skills than those that do not
(Johnson and Johnson, 1989 ).
Slavin (1980) reviewed 28 primary field projects lasting
at least 2 weeks in which CL methods were used in
elementary or secondary school. He concluded that:
1- For academic achievement, cooperative learning techniques are no
worse than traditional techniques, and in most cases they are significantly
better.
2- For low level learning outcomes, such as knowledge, calculation, and
application of principles, CL techniques appear to be more effective than
traditional techniques.
3-For high level cognitive learning outcomes, such as identifying concepts,
analysis of problems, judgement and evaluation, less structured CL
techniques that involve high student autonomy and participation in
decision-making may be more effective than traditional individualistic
Motivation and Retention
students who are learning
cooperatively are more active
participants in the learning
process (Lord, 2001). They care
about the class and the material
and they are more personally
engaged.
There are a lot of people who do not believe
in cooperative learning, they see that way of
learning as a setback which will stop them
from reaching their goals, buy there are also
people, like us, who see cooperative learning
as a opportunity to grow their knowledge.
Students who work together
tend to gain much more
knowledge, and to remember
it for a longer period of time.
According to Johnson and Johnson (2013) there are five
basic elements of cooperative learning:
1. Positive Interdependence We are all in this together and need
each other
2. Individual Accountability Everyone does her/his part and
learns all of the material
3. Promotive Interaction We all support and promote each other
academically and personally
4. Interpersonal and Small Group Skills We all learn the social
skills to help build relationships and resolve conflicts in positive ways
5. Group Processing We each assess ourselves and each other
in order to get better
In one study about cooperative
learning it is pointed out using those
five elements are vital for having a
successful learning strategy.
According to this study, once the
students gain the basic ideas and
skills of cooperative learning the
teacher will observe the learning
curve taking a much higher path in
terms of academic growth and social
and interpersonal growth (LaurianFitzgerald & Roman, 2016).
References
Cooperative and Collaborative Learning: Explanation. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2016, from
[Link]
Farrell, T. S., & Jacobs, G. M. (2016, February). Practicing What We Preach: Teacher Reflection Groups on
Cooperative Learning. The Electronic Journal for English Asa SecondLanguage, 19(4).
[Link]
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, F. P. (2013). Joining together: Group theory and
group skills (11th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Laurian-Fitzgerald, S., & Roman, A. F. (2016). The effect of teaching cooperative learning skills
on
developing young students' growth mindset. Journal Plus Education / Educatia Plus,
1468-82
Lee, H., Parsons, D., Kwon, G., Kim, J., Petrova, K., Jeong, E., & Ryu, H. (2016). Cooperation begins:
Encouraging critical thinking skills through cooperative reciprocity using a mobile learning game.
Computers & Education, 97, 97-115. doi:10.1016/[Link].2016.03.006
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.
Sencibaugh J.M. & Sencibaugh A.M. (2016). An analysis of cooperative learning approaches for students
with learning disabilities. Education, 136(3), 356-364.
