Effective Designs and Practices for Formal Cooperative Learning
(Teamwork & Problem-Based Learning)
Karl A. SmithUniversity of Minnesota
[email protected]/~smith
Formal Cooperative Learning Task Groups
Design team failure is usually due to failed team dynamics (Leifer, Koseff & Lenshow, 1995).
It’s the soft stuff that’s hard, the hard stuff is easy (Doug Wilde, quoted in Leifer, 1997)
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Top Three Main Engineering Work Activities
(Burton, Parker & LeBold, 1998)
Engineering Total• Design – 36%• Computer
applications – 31%• Management –
29%
Civil/Architectural1. Management –
45%2. Design – 39%3. Computer
applications – 20%
Burton, L., Parker, L, & LeBold, W. 1998. U.S. engineering career trends. ASEE Prism, 7(9), 18-21.
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Pseudo-group
Traditional G roup
C ooperative G roup
H igh-perform ing C ooperative G roup
Indiv idua l M em bers
PE
RFO
RM
AN
CE
LE
VE
L
TY PE O F G R O U P
Teamwork
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Characteristics of Effective Groups• Record your list
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable
• SMALL NUMBER• COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS• COMMON PURPOSE & PERFORMANCE GOALS• COMMON APPROACH• MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY
--Katzenbach & SmithThe Wisdom of Teams
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--Katzenbach & Smith (2001) The Discipline ofTeams
Six Basic Principles of Team Discipline
! Keep team membership small! Ensure that members have complimentary skills! Develop a common purpose! Set common goals! Establish a commonly agreed upon working
approach! Integrate mutual and individual accountability
Cooperative Learning is instruction that involves people working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that involve both positive interdependence (all members must cooperate to complete the task) and individual and group accountability (each member is accountable for the complete final outcome).
Key Concepts
•Positive Interdependence•Individual and Group Accountability•Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction•Teamwork Skills•Group Processing
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Teamwork Skills
•Communication• Listening and Persuading
•Decision Making•Conflict Management•Leadership
Group Task and Maintenance RolesGroup Task Roles Group Maintenance RolesInitiating EncouragingSeeking Information Expressing FeelingsGiving Information HarmonizingSeeking Opinions CompromisingGiving Opinions Facilitating CommunicationsClarifying Setting Standards or GoalsElaborating Testing AgreementSummarizing Following
•Team Charter
• Team name, membership, and roles• Team Mission Statement• Anticipated results (goals)• Specific tactical objectives• Ground rules/Guiding principles for team participation• Shared expectations/aspirations
Code of Cooperation
•EVERY member is responsible for the team’s progress and success.•Attend all team meetings and be on time.•Come prepared.•Carry out assignments on schedule.•Listen to and show respect for the contributions of other members; be an active
listener.•CONSTRUCTIVELY criticize ideas, not persons.•Resolve conflicts constructively,•Pay attention, avoid disruptive behavior.•Avoid disruptive side conversations.•Only one person speaks at a time.•Everyone participates, no one dominates.•Be succinct, avoid long anecdotes and examples.•No rank in the room.•Respect those not present.•Ask questions when you do not understand.•Attend to your personal comfort needs at any time but minimize team disruption.•HAVE FUN!!•?Adapted from Boeing Aircraft Group Team Member Training Manual
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Ten Commandments: An Affective Code of Cooperation
• Help each other be right, not wrong.• Look for ways to make new ideas work, not for reasons they won't.• If in doubt, check it out! Don't make negative assumptions about each other.• Help each other win, and take pride in each other's victories.• Speak positively about each other and about your organization at every opportunity.• Maintain a positive mental attitude no matter what the circumstances.• Act with initiative and courage, as if it all depends on you.• Do everything with enthusiasm; it's contagious.• Whatever you want; give it away.• Don't lose faith.• Have fun
Ford Motor Company
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Group Ground Rules Contract Form (Adapted from a form developed by Dr. Deborah Allen, University of Delaware)
Project groups are an effective aid to learning, but to work best they require that all groups members clearly understand their responsibilities to one another. These project group ground rules describe the general responsibilities of every member to the group. You can adopt additional ground rules if your group believes they are needed. Your signature on this contract form signifies your commitment to adhere to these rules and expectations. All group members agree to:
1. Come to class and team meetings on time. 2. Come to class and team meetings with assignments and other necessary
preparations done. Additional ground rules:
1.
2. If a member of the project team repeatedly fails to meet these ground rules, other members of the group are expected to take the following actions: Step 1: (fill in this step with your group) If not resolved: Step 2: Bring the issue to the attention of the teaching team. If not resolved: Step 3: Meet as a group with the teaching team. The teaching team reserves the right to make the final decisions to resolve difficulties that arise within the groups. Before this becomes necessary, the team should try to find a fair and equitable solution to the problem. Member’s Signatures: Group Number:______________ 1.____________________________ 2.____________________________
3.____________________________ 4.____________________________
Group Processing Plus/Delta Format
PlusThings That Group Did Well
DeltaThings Group Could Improve
Formal Cooperative Learning
1. Jigsaw
2. Peer Composition or Editing
3. Reading Comprehension/Interpretation
4. Problem Solving, Project, or Presentation
5. Review/Correct Homework
6. Constructive Academic Controversy
7. Group Tests
Professor's Role inFormal Cooperative Learning
1. Specifying Objectives
2. Making Decisions
3. Explaining Task, Positive Interdependence, and Individual Accountability
4. Monitoring and Intervening to Teach Skills
5. Evaluating Students' Achievement and Group Effectiveness
Comparison of Learning GroupsLess Structured (Traditional) More Structured (Cooperative)Low interdependence. Members takeresponsibility only for self. Focus is onindividual performance only.
High positive interdependence. Membersare responsible for own and each other’slearning. Focus is on joint performance.
Individual accountability only Both group and individual accountability. Members hold self and others accountablefor high quality work.
Assignments are discussed with littlecommitment to each other’s learning.
Members promote each other’s success. The do real work together and help andsupport each other’s efforts to learn.
Teamwork skills are ignored. Leader isappointed to direct members’ participation.
Teamwork skills are emphasized. Membersare taught and expected to use social skills. All members share leadershipresponsibilities.
No group processing of the quality of itswork. Individual accomplishments arerewarded.
Group processes quality of work and howeffectively members are working together. Continuous improvement is emphasized.rewarded. Continuous improvement is emphasized.
Kolb=s Experiential Learning Cycle
Observation and Reflections
Concrete Experience
Formulation of abstract concepts and generalizations
Testing implicationsof concepts innew situations
Problem-Based Learning
Problem posed
Identify what weneed to know
Learn it
Apply it
START
Subject-Based Learning
Told what weneed to know
Learn it
Given problem toillustrate how to use it
START
Normative Professional Curriculum:
1. Teach the relevant basic science,
2. Teach the relevant applied science, and
3. Allow for a practicum to connect the science to actual practice.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Problem-based learning is the learning that results from the process of working toward the understanding or resolution of a problem. The problem is encountered first in the learning process B Barrows and Tamlyn, 1980
Core Features of PBL$ Learning is student-centered$ Learning occurs in small student groups$ Teachers are facilitators or guides$ Problems are the organizing focus and stimulus for learning$ Problems are the vehicle for the development of
clinical problem-solving skills$ New information is acquired through self-directed
learning
Problem Based Cooperative Learning Format
TASK: Solve the problem(s) or Complete the project.
INDIVIDUAL: Estimate answer. Note strategy.
COOPERATIVE: One set of answers from the group, strive for agreement, make sure everyone is able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem.
EXPECTED CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Everyone must be able to explain the strategies used to solve each problem.
EVALUATION: Best answer within available resources or constraints.
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY: One member from your group may be randomly chosen to explain (a) the answer and (b) how to solve each problem.
EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: Active participating, checking, encouraging, and elaborating by all members.
INTERGROUP COOPERATION: Whenever it is helpful, check procedures, answers, and strategies with another group.
Cooperative Learning Research Support Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Smith, K.A. 1998. Cooperative learning
returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30 (4), 26-35.
• Over 300 Experimental Studies• First study conducted in 1924• High Generalizability• Multiple Outcomes
Outcomes
1. Achievement and retention2. Critical thinking and higher-level
reasoning3. Differentiated views of others4. Accurate understanding of others'
perspectives5. Liking for classmates and teacher6. Liking for subject areas7. Teamwork skills
Small-Group Learning: Meta-analysisSpringer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. 1999. Effects of small-group learning
on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21-52.
Small-group (predominantly cooperative) learning in postsecondary science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET). 383 reports from 1980 or later, 39 of which met the rigorous inclusion criteria for meta-analysis.
The main effect of small-group learning on achievement, persistence, and attitudes among undergraduates in SMET was significant and positive. Mean effect sizes for achievement, persistence, and attitudes were 0.51, 0.46, and 0.55, respectively.
Strategies for Energizing Large
Classes: From Small Groups to
Learning Communities:
Jean MacGregor,James Cooper,
Karl Smith,Pamela Robinson
New Directions for Teaching and Learning,
No. 81, 2000.Jossey- Bass
From Small Groups to Learning Communities: Energizing Large Classes
1. The argument for making large classes seem small2. Getting started: Informal small-group strategies in
large classes3. Going deeper: Formal small-group learning in large
classes (included in handout)4. Restructuring large classes to create communities of
learners5. Implementing small-group learning: Insights from
successful practitioners6. Making small-group learning and learning
communities a widespread reality
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The Harvard Assessment Seminars B Richard J. Light
All the specific findings point to, and illustrate, one main idea. It is that students who get the most out of college, who grow the most academically, and who are the happiest, organize their time to include interpersonal activities with faculty members, or with fellow students, built around substantive, academic work.
Environmental Factors That Enhance Students= Academic and Personal Development and SatisfactionAlexander Astin in What matters in college:
Four critical years revisited. Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Student-student interactionStudent-faculty interactionA faculty that is very student-orientedDiscussing racial/ethnic issues with other studentsHours devoted to studying B Time on taskTutoring other studentsSocializing with students of different race/ethnicityA student body that has high socioeconomic statusAn institutional emphasis on diversityA faculty that is positive about the general education programA student body that values altruism and social activism
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Making the Most of CollegeRichard J. Light
Harvard University Press (2001)
1. Meet the faculty2. Take a mix of courses3. Study in groups4. Write, write, write5. Speak another language6. Consider time7. Hold the drum
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Fostering Student Engagement in Learning: Lessons from Recent Research
Alexander AstinCollaboration (May, 2001)
1. Service-learning2. Interdisciplinary studies3. Common courses4. Extensive writing5. Collaborative learning6. Independent study7. Multiculturalism
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Key Features of Cooperative Learning
Active/InteractiveCooperativePersonal (before professional)Structure (before task)Knee-to-Knee, Eye-to-Eye/Space/FocusChallenging task (worthy of group effort)Students talking through the material (cognitive rehearsal)Learning groups are small (2-5) and assignedHeterogeneousYour own cooperative group
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The biggest and most long-lasting reforms of undergraduate education will come when individual faculty or small groups of instructors adopt the view of themselves as reformers within their immediate sphere of influence, the classes they teach every day.
K. Patricia Cross
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We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. Whether we permit chance environments to do the work, or whether we design environments for the purpose makes a great difference.John Dewey, 1906
It could well be that faculty members of the twenty-first century college or university will find it necessary to set aside their roles as teachers and instead become designers of learning experiences, processes, and environments James Duderstadt, 1999
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Cooperative Lesson Planning Form Grade Level: __________ Subject Area: ____________________ Date:__________ Lesson: ________________________________________________________________
Objectives Academic: ______________________________________________________________ Teamwork Skills: _______________________________________________________
Preinstructional Decisions Group Size: __________ Method Of Assigning Students: ____________________ Roles: _________________________________________________________________ Room Arrangement: ____________________________________________________ Materials: _____________________________________________________________ One Copy Per Group One Copy Per Person J igsaw Tournament Other: ______________________
Explain Task And Cooperative Goal Structure 1. Task: _______________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 2. Criteria For Success: _________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Positive Interdependence: ____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4. Individual Accountability: ___________________________________________ 5. Intergroup Cooperation: ______________________________________________ 6. Expected Behaviors: ____________________________________________________
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Monitoring And Intervening 1. Observation Procedure: ______ Formal ______ Informal 2. Observation By: ______ Teacher ______ Students ______ Visitors 3. Intervening For Task Assistance: _____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 4. Intervening For Teamwork Assistance: ________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 5. Other: ______________________________________________________________
Evaluating And Processing 1. Assessment Of Members’ Individual Learning: _________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 2. Assessment Of Group Productivity: ___________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Small Group Processing: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4. Whole Class Processing: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 5. Charts And Graphs Used: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 6. Positive Feedback To Each Student: __________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 7. Goal Setting For Improvement: _______________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 8. Celebration: _________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 9. Other: ______________________________________________________________