Instructions and template for the Group paper

This guide tries to assure that the Seminar CDMS-ELT promotes secondary school student
success while meeting existing M.E.N. standards. The drafts should have undergone several revisions.
Your choices and decisions should be based on the literature, research, and discussions of the seminar
and it should respond to the concepts co-constructed in class.
Only the ELT method or issue assigned to the group should be specified and its principles and
assessment followed. The supporting materials or tests should strike a balance between original products
and adapted ones. The lesson plans of all seminar participants are to be shared via Moodle so that at the
end of the seminar, the class participants have a spectrum of proposals to offer affiliate schools next term.
By the way, you should always give credit to classmates’ ideas when you use them.

Guide and evaluation criteria. Use it as a checklist. Do not remove it.

Learning Outcome Assess
INTRODUCTION On one page, provide an overview of the paper to orient the reader. Present the sections of the 0/4
paper.
To explain and evaluate a method of English language teaching, its historical background and 0/4
rationale, and its relevance to their experience as learners and as pre-service teachers. To situate
Literature review the method historically.
To articulate the linguistic, psychological and educational theories underlying the method. 0/2
To report the findings of representative research done between 2015-2019 0/2
To evaluate the principles, practices, and procedures proposed by the method 0/2
To compare, contrast and evaluate the ELT method assigned with other methods you know. 0/2
Implications To state how the method informs your decisions about your classroom practice. To articulate how 0/2
the method proposes to teach holistically (Communication, grammar, L, S, R, W).
Connecting Connection of the method to the group members' personal experience or to other readings or visual 0/2
texts you have encountered.
Lesson Plan Discuss one lesson plan. 0/10
Testing, Include one test corresponding to the lesson plans. It should reflect the assessment proposed by 0/8
assessment, and the method. Make sure to give clear instruction, include images
evaluation
Quality of argumentation 0/6
Other grading
Language use. 0/4
criteria
References. At least ten sources 0/2
GRADE: /50
NO Names CÓDIGOS:

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 COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................2
1. Literature review.............................................................................................................................4
1.1 Historical background....................................................................................................................4
1.2 Theories underlying the method...................................................................................................4
1.3 Representative research done between 2015-2019......................................................................4
1.4 Evaluation of the principles, practices, and procedures................................................................5
1.5. Comparison with other methods..................................................................................................5
2. Lesson Plan......................................................................................................................................6
2.1 A Rationale for a lesson plans for secondary.................................................................................6
2.2 Guide for one lesson plan by a student-teacher............................................................................6
2.3 Testing, assessment and evaluation in this method or issue.........................................................7
3. Discussion and conclusions according to the guide and the test proposed (1 page).......................8
References...............................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
In a world manged by individual porpuses, competence between equals and the ignorance
of the other, cooperative learning (CL) introduce us new ways to see the EFL classroom.
Throughout history, many educators, philosophers, and theorists started to think about how
productivity in terms of education could be more efficient, effectively, also with more quality,
and their findings established that CL in comparison with working alone was better and promote
those aspects show before.

This paper involves the historical background of CL and takes into account the theory
and theorists behind it, in order to explain and clarify some doubts about it and to contextualize
the reader, also it complies with show to the reader that CL could help to the class management,
to reinforce group work, and to enhance the recognition of the other as part of our reality and
life.

Then, it will be shown what entails CL through the principles that structured the method,
furthermore, in order to support those principles, the practices and the procedures will

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complement the main idea of CL, also it is going to be a comparison between CL and other
methods, and moreover the advantages and disadvantages that exits in the method.

To continue putting in context CL, the paper propose the rationale for a lesson plan in
secondary, where the reader will find the reasons why CL is one method that articulate the whole
learning process, a guide represented with a lesson plan will support the principles, practices, and
procedures of the method too, there will be involved and shown the testing, assessment, and
evaluation that the method considers for its development. Finally, the paper closes giving some
conclusions but more important with the discussion on how to improve classroom management
and also how to make decisions at the time to plan a lesson through CL.

1. Literature review
In recent years, teaching has a new point of view. For greater effectiveness in the tasks
assigned within the classroom, some teachers have adopted the method of cooperative learning, 
in order to strengthen interpersonal relationships, positive interdependence, mutual support, also
individual work because each member has a responsibility.
Some of the most representative authors are Johnson  & Johnson, who defines the
cooperative learning as “ the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to
maximize their own and each other’s learning” (2014).
In the group each member has a role and everyone has both individual and joint
responsibilities, that is why an important factor that we must be taken into account is Zone of
Proximal Development which Vygotsky defines as “the distance existing between what a student
can do individually and what they can do provided they work under the supervision of instructors
or in collaboration with more capable peers.”(cited by Serrano and Pons 2014). 
According to  Carl Friedrich “the key in cooperative learning is not knowledge per se, but the
act of learning; the key is not the possession of said knowledge, but the sum of those actions
which enable us to accomplish that possession.” (cited by Serrano and Pons 2014). Based on the
previous statement, the relevant thing is not the final result but the process and actions that are
carried out.

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       Cooperative learning class is organized in small groups where students have different skills
or qualities, this means heterogeneous groups that are to foster positive interdependence.
Interactions are a powerful learning factor. According to Deutsch “the type of interdependence
structured in a situation determines how individuals interact with each other which, in turn,
largely determines outcomes.”(cited by Newsletter 2018)

1.1 Historical background

Cooperative learning date from prior second world war where some social theorist was
thinking about group work and individual work, there, they established that group work was
more effective in quantity and quality compared with working alone. Then between the 1930s
and ’40s, the development of CL increase considerably because some theorist started to shape
and complement the idea of CL as a method, for instance, Dewey portrayed students as active
recipients of knowledge, it means, that Ss should develop not an only group but also social skills
that they could use outside the classroom and impulse a learning process together rather than
being passive receivers of information.

Lewin’s establish that it would be important if CL comprehend the idea of creating

relationships between peers or group members because this could enhance them to achieve the
group goal and learning goal, also that idea could deal with personal differences and give a
chance to a good treat and a recognition of the other as an essential part of CL.

Deutsh proposes social interdependence as an idea of a sense of responsibility, it means that

the Ss may feel responsible for contributing to group knowledge. May and Doob in 1937
determined that those who cooperate and work together were more successful in attaining
outcomes, in comparison with people who tend to work individual, those tend to develop
competitive behaviors.

In 1975 David and Roger Johnson identified that CL promotes mutual linking, better
communication, and high acceptance and support, this is crucial for strengthening the strategies
that imply group work. Another important contribution was made by Robert Salavin in 1986, his
Success for All that seek to make better the processes and the curriculum that is applied to
elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

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 A year before, in 1985, Kagan was pointing out 2 main principles for CL, those principles
are: Ss have to be equipped fully of knowledge in order to confront the competitive world and
for the second, he stated that a mixture between individualistic work and cooperative classroom
organization will prepare Ss to any kind of social situations.

Then in 1994, Johnson and Johnson published the 5 elements that were is considered an
important aspect for the success of CL, those elements are positive interdependence, individual
accountability, face-to-face interaction, social skills, and processing.

In order to finish, CL continue having some contributions that complement the ideas of those
who started with the method, this improves CL theory and its implementation in classrooms, it
means that CL is valid and also important for learning processes.

1.2 Theories underlying the method.

Cooperative learning is based on Ss, it means that CL is a student-center approach, where Ss

will learn and achieve goals in groups. The main idea is to teach students to be a functional part
of a group so that they have group responsibility as well as individual responsibilities.

Starting from that idea, there are some models that explain what CL is and what involves it,
those models are based on the principles that some author established. The first one is the model
proposed by Johnson and Johnson that search for a process of learning where Ss could learn
together in a non-competitive atmosphere.

Slavin, for instance, stated five principles that are joined each other, in that order of ideas,
those principles are team recognition, individual improvement scores, quizzes, teams, and class
representation. This author also developed the STAD (Student teams and achievement division),
which is a strategy where Ss with different abilities and levels of abilities work together in order
to achieve the learning goal.

For its part, Kagan determined the 2 principles as part of his theory, the first one is that the
world is too competitive and Ss should be prepared, the second one is that is necessary to balance
the method with individualistic work and cooperative organization in classrooms.

In addition to these models, there are some supportive items that complement the idea of CL,
those contributions are from the input (Krashen & Terrel, 1983) and output hypothesis (Swaim,

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1985), that promotes the developing of the four skills in English (reading, writing, speaking, and
listening), the interaction hypothesis (Hatch, 1978), that reinforce the comprehension of the Ss
through social interaction, also the sociocultural theory and the individual differences as well as
learner autonomy helps and complements the idea of CL in an EFL classroom as method to
achieve learning goals.

1.3 Representative research was done between 2015-2019

Research by Gull F., Shehzad S. (2015).  Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students'

Academic Achievement. The study aims to determine the effects of cooperative learning on the
academic performance of students. The study was conducted in a public university with 12th-
grade students. Multiple cooperative learning activities, including STAD, TGT and Jigsaw II,
were conducted over 8 weeks with an experimental group. Subsequently, the subsequent test will
be administered in both groups to identify the difference in performance.
        Procedure: The classroom is divided into two groups, on the one hand, the group that
manages with cooperative learning using the strategies of TGT, STAD AND Jigsaw II and
organized into small heterogeneous groups and the other group working with the traditional
method. 
 Student Teaching Achievement Division (STAD): students are given the material and
they must learn it as a group. The evaluation process is an individual and as a group.
 Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT) The organization must be in heterogeneous groups
where they play multiple games based on given instructional materials. 
 Jigsaw II is a team activity, where one type of member is responsible for mastering their
own part of the material, while experts are responsible for teaching their material to other
group members.
       Two tests were carried out, the first without using group work in either of the two teams of
the experiment and the first results showed that there was no significant difference in academic
achievements, however in the second test the results indicated that students working in the group
obtained academic performance where mutual support was evidenced.        
      Tombak, B. & Altun, S. (2016). The effect of cooperative learning: University example.
Eurasian Journal of Educational Research. Motivation work hand in hand with cooperative
learning is usually used in high school, but rarely in higher education due to the number of

6
students and time constraints. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyze the effects of
CL on motivation by speaking students at the university education level.
        Method: mixed-method techniques, Jigsaw, and Team-Game Tournament techniques were
used and implemented in two sections. The entity used was the state university in Istanbul,
Turkey with students between the ages of 18 and 25.
         Results: according to the study, cooperative learning can be taken to the university area
because it brings positive and motivational effects on the classroom. According to qualitative and
quantitative data, It supports that CL is a good strategy for learning. Learning to work in a group
is relevant especially for those who are learning to teach.
            Research by Jessica Thompson called Attitudes of students about cooperative learning
and individual learning in my mathematics in 2018 at Bowling Green State University, State
University seeks to compare the activities of students learning individually and in cooperation in
the school in which she teaches. In this entity, mathematics was taught in a traditional way, with
individual work and the organization of the classroom was in rows.
Methodology: Students were given three surveys in the course of this research period. The
surveys mentioned questions about student attitudes, students' emotional commitment, and
student's cognitive commitment.
         Results: When students work in groups, they have more positive attitudes, because they are
more likely to have their voice heard and this generates satisfaction. On the other hand, it is
important to emphasize that they will build arguments and criticize the reasoning of others.
Critics were written to push students to think more critically and creatively. However, Thompson
says the results were not surprising "the students in my class did not have a significant change in
attitude when they were in cooperative learning groups versus learning individually."
1.4 Evaluation of the principles, practices, and procedures

Exits many principles for CL that have been stated by different theorist, authors and
philosophers, but even though a representative structure of principles are those that pose Johnson
and Johnson in 1994, nevertheless, through history we can find some complimentary items to the
principles that CL may expose, so, some principles are going to be shown below, those are
clearly connected with the practices and procedures.

1. Heterogeneous grouping

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 2. Collaborative skills
3. Group autonomy
4. Simultaneous interaction
5. Equal participation
6. Individual accountability
7. Positive interdependence
8. Cooperation as a value

As you can see, there are some principles that are proposed by Johnson and Johnson, Kagan
among others. Starting from the principle number one (Heterogeneous grouping), take into
account the group as an environment where can mix some variables like ethnicity, social class,
religion, etc. Collaborative skills focus on the need to cooperate in order to achieve the learning
goal, is for learning how to work in a group. The group autonomy involves teamwork and also
boost the solving problem skills, searching first in myself or in my partners before the teacher for
resources.

The simultaneous interaction and equal participation (Kagan, 1994), deal with some specific
problems as could be the overcrowding in a classroom or the domination of one or two members
that are part of a group impeding that others participate. Individual accountability helps us to
encourage the processes starting from myself and then for the others. Positive interdependence
entails the famous sentence “One for all, all for one”, it means that if something helps one
member group it will help the others, finally, cooperative as a value means that the feeling
expose above should be taken for the whole class, not just for a group or two.

1.5. Comparison with other methods

According to different research, CL has considerable differences with other methods since
it proposes a collective way to study and achieve learning goals through group work and
individual accountability among other main ideas, so, we are going to compare CL with
Traditional Learning Groups (TLG) and see how it works.

Perhaps these two methods are similar but in deep are really different, while one propose a
non-competitive environment the other promotes the competition between peers, even from the
same group, for that reason we have to take into account what this paper explains, and we can

8
not forget that CL will be productive under certain cooperative efforts (positive
interdependence, face-to-face interaction, groups skills, etc.).

Traditional group work focuses on individual performance while CL poses that each
member of the group believes that everyone in the group should succeed, also CL enhance the Ss
to help, assist, and support the other in the process of learning, but TLG just ignored or assumed
the social skills and the group function among one person that “take charge” of it, and those
groups are large between 5 to 10 Ss while CL comprehend groups around 3 to 5 Ss maximum.

As we can notice, CL proposes a different type of learning, that involves Ss to cooperate

and to accomplish learning goals, to reinforce social skills and to integrate the whole participants
in a classroom.

1.5.1 Implications

Cooperative learning involves challenging study. It is a method that helps to improve the
learning experience and strengthens peer tutoring, which brings greater achievements because
the ideal is that through collaboration all members of the group have the knowledge and
dominate the subject or assigned task. More perseverance is generated than when working
individually because those who dominate the subject more explain and clarify concepts to those
who do not.

     Based on Johnson and Johnson “Working together to achieve a common goal produces higher
achievement and greater productivity than working alone.” (cited by  Gillies 2016). It is
important to keep the groups because they carry out a process and they have a goal or a task to
follow. 

       On the other hand, the use of cooperative learning implies or suggests a new role of the
teacher in the case of passive teaching or the traditional method, because greater spaces of
interaction must be generated. Likewise, the design and structure of the lessons and the
curriculum must be focused on cooperative development. The contents must be meaningful to
achieve success in all students. It should also be noted that the strengths and weaknesses of each
student should be identified.

           According to Kaminski (2017), cooperative language could present some disadvantages:

9
   Classroom management: lack of attention and participation of all members.
 Dependency on groups: some students have difficulty working individually.
   Group Think: students do not have a chance to challenge their peers, the speaker
sometimes does not express the ideas of the team.
   Group Dysfunction: Students at the bottom do not complete anything and students at the
top do all the work.
   Complicated Instructions: many teachers end up making Cooperative Learning too
complicated for everyone to understand.
 Not enough collaboration: students need to develop roles in an authentic.

However, as mentioned in previous chapters, when a member does not have clear any concept,
the others guide him. Also in cooperative learning, there are individual responsibilities that will
then be shared in groups. The above disadvantages may not occur if the process is carried out
effectively.

1.5.2 Making connections

 In my personal experience I grew up in a town where most teachers used the

traditional method, however sometimes I worked in a group but cooperative
learning did not happen because the groups did not keep during the period of class
to complete the particular task. The class that handled cooperative learning was
called business administration, in this subject we could carry out a project
throughout the year, it was a beautiful experience because our project was about
recycling, my group was composed of four colleagues.

In the first moment, each one consulted how to carry out the project, then we
shared ideas as a group, finally the project was carried out and it was successful
since each one fulfilled his commitments and with the money collected traveling
to nearby sites.

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2. Lesson Plan
This section is going to be a guide for a lesson plan taking into account the whole process
of this paper, it will be supported by the information that was founded in research and articles.
2.1 A Rationale for lesson plans for secondary

Based on the previous information on this paper, we are going to propose a lesson plan
th
for 11 grade. This lesson plan will be supported by the literature review and all the information
shown in this paper, also it will try to fulfill the principles, practices, and procedures posed
before.
2.2 Guide for one lesson plan by a student-teacher
Name/title of the lesson: I take care of my environment.
Código of the pre-service teachers: 20162165065 – 20162165082 - 20162165717
Name of school: Policarpa Salavarrieta
Grade: 11th
Goal (M.E.N): Encourage critical thinking about caring for the environment using
different expressions in English

Timing of each lesson stage:

 First activity  60 minutes 

 Second activity 40 minutes.
 Third activity 40 minutes
 fourth activity a period of class.

Functions (M.E.N):
Objectives (M.E.N): The Ss will get into critical thinking to establish a position
about the ecological situation from Colombia.
Outcomes: The Ss will give some important solutions to some problems around
climate change, they will make an oral presentation where they pose a position in
front of the whole class.

Evidence of outcomes:

 Ss recognize different environmental problems. 

 Ss take of their class environment.
 Ss use varied vocabulary about environmental issues. 

 Ss take care of their plants as it is individual but also group responsibility.

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Time table fit State what Ss have learned recently and what they’ll be doing in the
next lesson.
Class description: Who are my Ss? What do they find easy? Difficult? How well
do they participate?
Topic: Environmental problems and the different things I can do to promote its care
Method: Cooperative Learning

Procedures that will happen in the lesson.

Interactions: the interactions will be presented by the teacher with a previous
organization for the whole group. The main idea is to increase the relations among
co-workers. The next classes would be organized in groups of 3-4 chosen randomly
and they will work together just for the 3 classes and the final project.
Language exponents: we will work as teachers with our students in order to
increase and improve the grammar and the use of the language focused on level B1
and vocabulary taken from "Cambridge English vocabulary list "
E.g environment, society, weather, warm, temperature, explore, pollution. (e.g.,
grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation)
Language skills and micro-skills: Express themselves with the ideas as a
monologue. They will be able to maintain a brief conversation among classmates
about a specific topic with basic vocabulary and structures.
The pronunciation would be focused on the stress and intonation of each word
learned by them.
The task to be included in the lesson:
Goal - Ss will create a narrative, comic, text or any kind of representation where
they express their concerns about the ecological situation from Colombia

Activity 1 - In the first stage students will have to work individually. Students will
read two readings about environmental problems and then they will answer a test
for reading comprehension.

 First reading:  Pollution and its Negative Effects. 

Comprehension questions 

The damage caused by pollution might be irreversible:

a.  True

b.  False

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The ecosystem

a.  can always cope with pollutants

b.  may not always be able to cope with pollution.

Pollution

a.  is always caused by humans.

b.  may sometimes be caused by natural disasters.

An ideal solution to prevent pollution would be to

a.  refrain from the development of some countries.

b.  continue developmental projects.

c.  take into consideration the future generations need to live in a healthy
environment.

  Second reading: Climate change and global warming. 

Comprehension questions:

Climate is by definition variable.

a.  True

b.  False

Climate change observed in the last decades is natural.

a.  True

b.  False

Global warming is caused by industrialization.

a.  True

b.  False

Greenhouse effects have no impact on our health.

a.  True

b.  False

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 Activity 2 - In the second stage students will have to work in groups of four people
and these will stay together during the school period. 

In the corresponding groups, the students will talk about relevant and interesting
aspects of the previous readings then students will share and compare the answers
about reading comprehension.

Finally, the group will deliver a paper with the answers, conclusions, and reflections.

Activity 3 - Each group will have an environmental problem that they have to give a
possible solution. First, they will socialize with each other and then the teacher will
choose a leader who will speak in front of the class.  The person could be any
member of the group because everyone must have knowledge about the topic. 

Topics

1.    Climate change

2.   Pollution

3.   Deforestation

4.   Soil degradation

5.   Water shortage

6.   Extinction of species and loss of biodiversity

7.   Invasion and illegal trafficking of species

8.       Waste

Activity 4 - Each member will have to bring a plant which they will take care of
within the class period. 

The four plants of the group are going to water every eight days and every week
will take care of a different member.

Ss role – “Students as an active recipient of knowledge by discussing information

and answer in groups, engaging in the learning process together rather than being
passive receivers of information”, (Dewey)
T’s role – Teacher as a guided person in the classroom.
Teaching aids, materials: The teacher will give the instructions in order to develop
the activity and also the teacher will help students. To make the activities it will be
needed the readings and the sheet with the questions.

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 Language Learning Strategies taught along with the topic.
Classroom management: the Ss will work individually, in pairs and in groups in
order to achieve the learning goal.
Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation with artifacts:
Opportunities to apply the new concepts and materials to new situations were
provided:
Theoretical foundations that support the lesson plan. One page with at least eight
references and citations:
Evidence of collection of students’ reflections on the topics and on the learning
process: The teacher will collect the worksheets where the Ss already responded to
the questions.
Anticipate problems, propose possible solutions: Ss will be isolated and will not take
part in the class, for that the teacher will increase their motivation through the
activities.
Ss will make some errors while they are answering the questions, the teacher will
propose feedback for everyone.
Ss will not want to work in groups, so the teacher will provide them options to make
groups as they want.
Personal aims.: As a personal aim, I hope that the Ss keep in mind a reflection
about climate change and that we as human beings could help our planet.
(adapted from Harmer, 2012 p. 176-256).

2.3 Testing, assessment, and evaluation in this method or issue

In order to assess students, the CL poses some important aspects or ways to evaluate the process,
it could be in forms of formative or summative assessment, group accountability and individual
accountability. The formative assessment, for example, helps students to identify their strengths
and weaknesses and target areas that need to work, on the other hand, the summative assessment
includes more quantitative assess where exits exams, projects, papers, etc.

So it is important to be aware of the process that as teachers we are developing in order to assess
correctly our students because a good assessment will help or not the Ss to improve their English
level.

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3. Discussion and conclusions according to the guide and the
test proposed.
Through the whole paper we notice that CL has a commitment to the social strengthening of
learning processes, that is, beyond teaching a second language, one must also teach to recognize
ourselves and recognize the other, as well as to boost the work in group for the achievement of
different learning goals, and also the importance of group work in bridging the gaps that society
creates between students.

On the other hand, the strengths of cooperative work are notorious when compared to other
methods, since the social framework of cooperative work overcomes the barriers of traditional
teaching and also manages to equate the subjects who are within this method because it considers
all of them equal.

Finally, it is necessary to say that in order to build a society based on the breadth and recognition
of strengths over weaknesses, it is important to take into account cooperative learning, because
this method is strategic for the student development in society.

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References
Essays, UK. (November 2017). History of Cooperative Learning. Retrieved from
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-history-of-cooperative-learning-education-
essay.php?vref=1

Johnson, David W., & Johnson, Roger T. (2014). Cooperative Learning in the 21st Century.
Anales de Psicología, 30(3), undefined-undefined. Available in:
https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=167/16731690008

Kaminski (2017). Kaganistic Rituals of Modern Education: A Criticism of Cooperative

Learning.

Kelly. M. (2018).Cooperative Learning Versus Traditional Learning for Group Activities.

Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/cooperative-learning-for-group-activities-7749
 
Gull F., Shehzad S. (2015). Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students’ Academic
Achievement. Journal of Education and Learning. 

Newsletter. (2018). What is cooperative learning? 

Serrano, José M.; Pons, Rosa M. Introduction: Cooperative Learning Anales de Psicología, vol.
30, núm. 3, septiembre-diciembre, 2014, pp. 781-784 Universidad de Murcia Murcia, España. 

Robyn M. Gillies (2016) Cooperative Learning: Review of Research and Practice.

Thompson (2018).Student Attitudes on Cooperative Learning and

Individual Learning in my Mathematics. Bowling Green State University.

TeAchnology. (S.F) Dr. Spencer Kagan's Thoughts on Cooperative Learning. Retrieved from
http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/cooperative_learning/kagan/  

 Tombak, B. & Altun, S. (2016). The effect of cooperative learning: University example.
Eurasian Journal of Educational Research.

Jacobs, George. (2004). COOPERATIVE LEARNING: THEORY, PRINCIPLES, AND

TECHNIQUES.

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