Cooperative learning

I believe cooperative learning is a very common teaching method. Whether we are in online or offline learning, many teachers use cooperative learning to guide students. The most common method of cooperative learning should be group discussion. “There is much more to cooperative learning than merely arranging students into groups, and it has been described as “structuring positive interdependence.” Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive in nature, students learning cooperatively can capitalize on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc.)” (Wikimedia Foundation,2021). Group work is another way of cooperative learning. When a group is given a task by the teacher, the group members need to pay for it. solving problems together and helping each other. “The work of theorists in the tradition of Piaget and Vygotsky suggests that the cognitive discourse which arises as students interact and the social construction of knowledge which occurs as students strive together to solve problems accounts for these cognitive gains. Positive social interdependence provides structure to achieve these outcomes as an individual’s success is dependent on the achievement of members of their cooperative group” (Johnson and Johnson 2011, 10–11).

As my personal experience, I had an accounting class. In the class before the midterm exam, the teacher asked us to solve some review problems in groups. At that time, I was unable to do some questions because I were confused on some concepts. My group member found my doubts and asked me if I had any questions. After I asked her, I was particularly impressed by such concepts. In the later study, I am also very familiar with this concepts. Also, She explained the some questions to our group members when we discussion in the group. I think this is a very good example to explain cooperative learning.

Reference:

Emerson, T. L. N., English, L. K., & McGoldrick, K. (2015). Evaluating the cooperative component in cooperative learning: A quasi-experimental study. The Journal of Economic Education, 46(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2014.978923

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, May 9). Cooperative learning. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_learning.