Cooperative Teaching Method

Cooperative Teaching Methods

and Implementation Strategies

Michael N. Nkwenti, PhD

Senior Lecturer Educational
Technologies
 Definition of Teaching Methods

Teaching methods are

special procedures by which
educational goals are
reached (Salla,2010)
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2 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation

 Definition Cooperative learning

• Cooperative learning, is a
specific kind of collaborative
learning. In cooperative
learning, pupils work together
in small teams on a structured
activity. They are individually
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accountable for their work,

and the work of the group as a
whole is also assessed.

3 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation

 Definition of Cooperative Learning
continue…
• Cooperative Learning refers to a
set of instructional methods in
which pupils work in small,
mixed-ability learning teams.
• The pupils in each team are
responsible not only for learning
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the material being taught, but also

for helping their teammates learn.
• Within cooperative learning
teams of pupils discuss the
material to be learned with each
other, help and assist each other
to understand it, and encourage
each other to work hard.
 Teams as the Core of Cooperative
Learning
Teams differ from groups because they
include the following basic elements of
cooperative learning:
Goals are shared
• Information is circulated
• Roles are assigned
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• Materials are managed

TEAM
• Teammates depend on each other
to complete tasks successfully
• Pupils learn to respect each
other’s contributions to the team

Group
 Benefits of Cooperative Learning
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6 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation

 Additional Benefits of Cooperative
Learning…
• Pupils engage in “cognitive
collaboration.” They must organize
their thoughts to explain ideas to
classmates
• Pupils have FUN learning
• Pupils social nature is used to their
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advantage
• Development of key skills:
• Social
• Leadership
• Communication
• Decision Making
• Problem Solving
• Conflict Resolution
 Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning

 Positive Interdependence 
 Face-to- Face Interaction
 Individual Accountability
 Interpersonal And Small Group
Skills
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 Group Processing
 Taken from: Circles of Learning:
Cooperation in the Classroom (Revised Edition)
D.W. Johnson, R.T. Johnson and Edythe Johnson
Holubec. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
1986
 Positive Interdependence

Pupils must feel they need each other

in order to complete the group’s task

• Mutual Goals
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• Joint Rewards
• Shared Materials and Information
• Assigned Roles
 Face-to-Face Interaction

• Discussing

• Summarizing
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• Explaining

• Elaborating

• Receiving Feedback
 Individual Accountability

Teams succeed when:

 Every member has learned the material

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 Every member has helped complete tasks

 Frequently teachers assess individual learning

 Interpersonal and Small Group
Skills

 Communication
 Leadership
 Decision-making
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 Conflict Management
 Active Listening
 Challenging Ideas Not People
 Compromising
 Group Processing
Giving pupils the time and the procedures to
analyze how well their teams are functioning
with:
Learning tasks
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Social skills

Self-assessment
 Examples of Cooperative Learning
activities
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14 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation

 Cooperative Note-taking Pairs

Objective:
To enable pupils to take something from one
another’s notes to improve their own
Directions In Brief:
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1. Assign or allow pupils to select partners.

2. Teach
3. Stop every 10 minutes for sharing of notes.

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 Cooperative Note-taking Pairs
Check - in

Directions in Brief

1. While teaching, stop periodically for a check-in.

2. Instruct pupils to skim their partners’ notes looking
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for:
 information they missed
 information partners have incorrectly noted
3. pupils retrieve their own notes and make any needed
changes.

16 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation

 Objectives:
• To move pupils in a purposeful way
• To gather data in a quick, visual way that is engaging
Directions:
1. Identify the kind of data you want to gather.
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2. Post four multiple choice responses, one in each corner.

3. pupils select their responses.
4. Members of groups discuss their choices.
5. Spokespersons summarize/present group members’
thoughts.
 THINK – WRITE – PAIR - COMPARE

Objectives:
to give rehearsal time, engage more pupils, and promote
thoughtful responses

Directions:
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• Present a problem, idea or question to be discussed

• Pair pupils randomly
• Allow time for individuals to think in silence
• Allot time for pupils to write responses (independently)
• Give time for partners to compare their responses
• Give the whole class time to discuss responses
 Formations
Objectives: to make abstract concepts more concrete while incorporating
movement

Directions in Brief:
1. Identify an abstract concept
2. Translate it to a living model
3. Compose steps in the process of constructing the
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model
4. Engage pupils in construction of the model
5. Engage pupils in processing the concept
 What is a ROTATING REVIEW?

Topic
Something I learned today. . .

pupils walk around the room to

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each piece of chart paper and write

something about what they learned
that day.
Sheets are posted and used as a
review.
 • Objective:
to get pupils to recall, summarize or brainstorm
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• Directions:
State the problem, topic or issue
Distribute one sheet of paper to each group
Give a time limit and ask pupils to begin to write
 Round Table

Each person at your table should write one thing he/she

has learned about cooperative learning.
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22
Dr Nkwenti

Thanks for listening

23 Cooperative Teaching Method and Classroom Organisation