Introduction

Cooperative Learning can be defined as collaboration in an instructional setting either between or among members of small groups that achieves learning outcomes, including ability to remember and utilize what is learned.

In cooperative learning settings . . .

Groups have common goals toward which to work. Students work in small, teacher-assigned groups. Teachers provide activity structures that encourage productive learning behaviors. Each student is individually accountable for his or her achievements. Students are rewarded for group success.

Instructor Needs

Classroom Movable chairs Tables that individually seat up to five persons, if possible Computers for computer-based exercises Well-planned activities, designed to meet the needs of the audience in the amount of time allocated Knowledge of techniques and how to utilize them Previous practice using the techniques Students equipped with writing instruments and paper who are

motivated to follow directions and work in groups

Techniques Jigsaw Group students into sets of five. Assign unique information to learn to each group member. After reading the material, instruct group members to take turns teaching their material to their teammates.

Example: Give the members of each group a piece of paper containing information detailing one way to evaluative web sites. Provide two minutes of silence to read the material and decide how to explain it. Ask them to take turns explaining the information to the other group members.

Think-Pair-Share Pose a question, and ask students to think about its answer. Instruct students to pair off and take turns explaining their answers to each other.

Example: Ask class members to imagine they need to research a paper topic but cannot remember what their library instruction professor told them about which databases to use to do so. Instruct students to think silently about how best to refresh their memories and then explain their answers to their partners. Then call on a few students to explain their partner’s strategy to the class.

Three-Step Interview Group students into pairs. In step one, ask individuals to interview their partners. In step two, ask partners to reverse roles. In step three, select a few students to explain their partners’ answer to the entire class.

Example: Instruct students to imagine that their psychology professor has asked each one to compose a five-page research paper focused on one of the many topics covered in the course textbook. Request that they think silently about how they would go about selecting a topic and why they would choose that method. Ask the students to pair off and interview each other. Each partner should ask the other these questions. “How would you identify a topic?” “Why would you choose this method?”

Cooperative Learning BenefitsCooperative Learning teaching techniques facilitate learning and memory by

Ensuring attention through active student participation Adding meaning and relevance to the material Enabling students to learn from “modeling” or through observation of others Using repetition and “deep” processing to help move information

into long-term memory Facilitating future retrieval by mimicking retrieval environments Encouraging student participation through expectation of rewards

desire to avoid possible punishments

Students of all ability levels show higher academic achievement when taught using cooperative learning techniques as opposed to traditional techniques. Women, members of minority groups, and “at risk” students especially are likely to show increased achievement. Cooperative Learning promotes development of higher-level thinking skills. (See J. E. Ormrod’s Human learning (4th ed.) for detailed information.)

Think, Pair, Share! Cooperative Learning Teaching Techniques

for the Library Instruction Classroom Sherry Young

ReferencesColbeck, C. L., Campbell, S. E., and Bjorklund, S. A., (2000). Grouping in the dark:

What college students learn from group projects. The Journal of Higher Education, 71, 60-83.

Goodsell, A.S. (1992). Collaborative learning: A sourcebook for higher education. University Park, PA: National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.

Jacobs, G.M. (2002). The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T. (1994). Learning together and alone: Cooperation, computers, and individualist learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T, and Smith, K.A. (1988). Cooperative learning returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30(4), 27-35.

McGlynn, A. P. (2006). Teaching millennials, our newest cultural cohort. Education Digest, 71(4), 12-16.

Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Human Learning. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.Slavin, R. E. (1983). Cooperative learning. New York: Longman.Slavin, R. E. (1989). Cooperative learning and student achievement: Six theoretical

perspectives. In Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 6, pp. 161-177). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.

Terry, W. S. (2006). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures. Boston: Pearson.

Cooperative Learning. Retrieved May 27, 2007 from http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm

 

Author Contact InformationDr. Sherry YoungDirector of Library ServicesCameron University Librarysherryy@cameron.edu580-581-2403

Round Robin Brainstorming Group students into sets of four or five each, and instruct each group to appoint a recorder. Pose a question having several answers. Have group members think silently about responses and then take turns sharing their ideas with the others in the group. Ask group members not to criticize one another's responses. Instruct the recorder to write down the ideas. After a few minutes, stop the discussions, and select a member of each group to read the recorder’s list aloud.

Example: Instruct class members to imagine that their biology professor has asked each one to compose a paper focused on gene therapy but has provided no guidance in terms of appropriate number or type of resources needed to complete the paper. Tell students to imagine themselves confronted with 253 titles after a global library database/catalog search and to “brainstorm” ideas as to what to do next. Ask them to name a recorder to take notes and a reporter to read the notes. After a few minutes, ask students to end their discussions. Then have each reporter tell the entire class about his or her group’s ideas.

Three-minute Review Pause during or at the end of a lecture or discussion. Ask students to work with partners to summarize the lecture or discussion. After three minutes, call on a few students to share their group’s summary with the class.

Example: Pause at the end of each lecture topic. Ask students to pair up and summarize the lecture. Ask one member of two or three of the pairs to share summaries verbally with the entire class.

Numbered Heads Group students into sets of four, and number the members of each group one through four. Give the groups questions to answer. Ask each group to decide upon an answer, and call on all persons with a certain number to take turns reporting to the class.

Book Ends Ask students to pair up. Give them a topic, and tell them to spend a couple of minutes deciding how to teach that topic to their partners. After giving participants time to think, invite them to take turns teaching the topic to their partners.

Example: Ask students to select an information resource such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, New York Times Index, or a resource of their choosing. Instruct them to describe the resource by creating a list of its characteristics. After a few minutes, ask students to use their lists to teach their partners about the resource.

ALA Poster PresentationJune 23, 2007