"Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 143). In a society where and a time when people all over the world are communicating and sharing information, we must help our students learn through interaction with others. "Because of the social interaction among students, cooperative learning can be used to model the appropriate social behaviors necessary for employment situations...students are able to develop and practice skills that will be needed in society...these skills include leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management" (Orey, 2001, p. 2). We, as educators, owe it to our students to provide situations and activities in which they can learn and practice these necessary life skills. Creating multi-media, such as videos, can a fun way to build an artifact together. With a well made rubric and clear expectations, a collaborative group can learn about a topic and then share that knowledge with their classmates.
Cooperative learning opportunities also allow for a variety of assessments. Rather than just relying on tests and individual assignments, collaborative work allows for more reflection. Last year, I had my math students create videos about combinations, permutations, or probability. Since it was my first time trying this type of cooperative learning activity, there were some things that I would change, but overall, the students enjoyed working together and they learned a lot about the topic. In fact, in order to be able to put together a video, they not only had to research and learn the topic in depth, but had to be able to organize their thoughts well enough to put together an entertaining and educational video. I will definitely use this activity again.
References:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Kim:
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of having students create multimedia projects to demonstrate their level of understanding. It really is more effective than simply giving them a test. In my school we have made a distinction between "assessment of learning" and "assessment for learning". In the case of having the students create a project to demonstrate their understanding, the assessment itself is part of the learning process, and not just a piece of data for you (the teacher) to collect.
Christopher, I love that distinction since it makes it more clear. Often, I think the hard part is wondering how we are going to "grade" the process, whereas grading a test is so much more cut and dry.
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