Students’ learning goals may be structured to promote
cooperative, competitive, or individualistic efforts. In every classroom,
instructional activities are aimed at accomplishing goals and are conducted
under a goal structure. A learning goal is a desired future state of
demonstrating competence or mastery in the subject area being studied.
The teacher decides which goal structure to implement
within each lesson. The most important goal structure, and the one that
should be used the majority of the time in learning situations, is cooperation.
Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared
goals. Within cooperative situations, individuals seek outcomes that are
beneficial to themselves and beneficial to all other group members.
TYPES OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING
In formal cooperative learning groups the
teachers’ role includes:
1. Making preinstructional decisions.
Teachers (a) formulate both academic and social skills objectives, (b)
decide on the size of groups, (c) choose a method for assigning students to
groups, (d) decide which roles to assign group members, (e) arrange the room,
and (f) arrange the materials students need to complete the assignment.
2. Explaining the instructional task and
cooperative structure.Teachers (a) explain the academic assignment to
students, (b) explain the criteria for success, (c) structure positive
interdependence, (d) structure individual accountability, (e) explain the
behaviors (i.e., social skills) students are expected to use, and (f) emphasize
intergroup cooperation
3. Monitoring students’ learning and
intervening to provide assistance in (a) completing the task successfully or
(b) using the targeted interpersonal and group skills effectively.While
conducting the lesson, teachers monitor each learning group and intervene when
needed to improve taskwork and teamwork. Monitoring the learning groups
creates individual accountability; whenever a teacher observes a group, members
tend to feel accountable to be constructive members.
4. Assessing students’ learning and helping
students process how well their groups functioned. Teachers (a) bring
closure to the lesson, (b) assess and evaluate the quality and quantity of
student achievement, (c) ensure students carefully discuss how effectively they
worked together (i.e., process the effectiveness of their learning groups), (d)
have students make a plan for improvement, and (e) have students celebrate the
hard work of group members.
