Cooperative learning structures classroom activities so that small groups of students work together toward a shared academic goal, with each member's success bound up in the group's success rather than in outcompeting classmates. David and Roger Johnson's research from the 1970s onward identified conditions such as positive interdependence under which group work reliably improves learning; they set out five essential elements for effective group learning in 1994. Done well it is associated with higher achievement, better reasoning and higher self-esteem than individualistic or competitive classroom structures, though it is vulnerable to social loafing, uneven workloads, and the difficulty of assessing individual contribution fairly.
Facts
Disputed
Most Effective ForClassrooms where the goal includes social and communication skills alongside content mastery; least reliable where group composition or task design lets one member do most of the work. 1 Johnson and Johnsons meta-analyses report overwhelmingly positive results for achievement and social skills, but cooperative learnings own literature documents recurring failure modes, social loafing and group hate, that depend heavily on task design and group composition rather than the method alone. Central QuestionCan structuring students work as a genuinely interdependent group, rather than as parallel individual effort, improve both what and how much they learn? 1 Learner Role Teacher Role Classification
Education Level FAQs
Is cooperative learning the same thing as collaborative learning?
Related but distinct: cooperative learning is teacher-structured with individual accountability; collaborative learning is looser and more student-directed.
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but researchers generally distinguish them. Cooperative learning, as David and Roger Johnson defined it, is teacher-structured: the task is broken into interdependent roles with individual accountability built in, and the teacher closely controls the process toward a specific, usually content-specific outcome. Collaborative learning is looser and more student-centered, with a group exploring an open question or building a shared product together rather than following a structured division of labor. Both rely on group work and peer interaction, and in casual use the labels are often swapped, but the atlas keeps cooperative learning's own entry focused on the structured, teacher-directed model the Johnsons researched.
Connections
Developed By
Source Cooperative Learning Institute: Roger and David Johnson
Source Cooperative Learning Institute: Roger and David Johnson
Includes
Source Wikipedia: Elliot Aronson
Source Jigsaw (teaching technique) (Wikipedia)
Source Positive interdependence (Wikipedia)
Source Small group learning, Wikipedia
Source Structured academic controversy (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cooperative learning
Wikimedia FoundationOverview / History
Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.
Overview
Students must fully participate and put forth effort within their group, and each group member has a task, role or responsibility.
Effectiveness / Criticisms
Because cooperative learning is constantly changing, there is a possibility that teachers may become confused and lack complete understanding of the method.
Lead paragraph, education-level
Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.
Article text
These studies also cover learners from elementary to college levels.
Introduction
the teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning
Introduction, learner role
Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals.
Introduction, setting
organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences
In Group: Collaborative and Peer-Based Learning Strategies, Lead
Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences.
View the Source Cooperative Learning Institute: Roger and David Johnson
Cooperative Learning Institute- Developed By: David W. Johnson
- Developed By: Roger T. Johnson
View the Source Structured academic controversy (Wikipedia)
Includes: Structured Academic Controversy, Article text: in-approachQuote, Includes: Structured Academic Controversy, Article text: in-approach
Structured academic controversy is a type of cooperative learning strategy where controversial issues are learnt and discussed from multiple perspectives by small teams of students.
Positive interdependence (Wikipedia)
Includes: Positive Interdependence, BodyQuote, Includes: Positive Interdependence, Body
David Johnson, Deutsch's student in the study of social psychology, with his brother Roger Johnson, a science educator, and their sister, educator Edye Johnson Holubec, further developed positive interdependence theory as part of their research and work in teacher and professional training at the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota (founded in 1969).
Small group learning, Wikipedia
Includes: Small Group Learning, BodyQuote, Includes: Small Group Learning, Body
Small-group learning is closely related to research on cooperative learning and social interdependence theory.
Jigsaw (teaching technique) (Wikipedia)
Includes: Jigsaw (teaching technique), LeadQuote, Includes: Jigsaw (teaching technique), Lead
The jigsaw technique is a cooperative learning method that brings about both individual accountability and achievement of the team goals.
Wikipedia: Elliot Aronson
Includes: Elliot Aronson, Lead
Elliot Aronson (born January 9, 1932) is an American psychologist who has carried out experiments on the theory of cognitive dissonance, and invented the Jigsaw Classroom, a cooperative teaching technique that facilitates learning while reducing interethnic hostility and prejudice.
Includes: Elliot Aronson, intro of the article
Elliot Aronson (born January 9, 1932) is an American psychologist who has carried out experiments on the theory of cognitive dissonance, and invented the Jigsaw Classroom, a cooperative teaching technique that facilitates learning while reducing interethnic hostility and prejudice.
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