Cooperative Learning

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

ABSTRACTPurpose:Seeking new approaches to effective methods of instruction and learning has been the
focal point of many educators and psychologists in the recent decades. This need has
led to the persuance of research for new teaching and learning designs which are as yet
in their developing stages. Among these is : cooperative learning which appears to be a
promising method of instruction and learning.It is this need that has promted the interest in presenting this paper on cooperative
learning. The purpose here is to : (1) Demonstrate a pilot workshop on cooperative
learning (2) Discuss the main ideas and methods of the design. (3) Present an exper-
iment and assess its results. And (4) Draw a conclusions as to the effectiveness of co-
operative learning.An experimental study lasting 16 weeks was conducted of sophomore students enroled
in an English comprehension and conversation course at the college of English Edu-
cation in Jeon Ju University. The objectives were to find out in what ways cooperative
learning was different from that of traditional learning metoods. Specifically : (1) could
cooperative learning enhance more the students' learning strategies in identifying the
main ideas in a passage? Could it enhance the students' comprehension and retention
of main parts of a dialogue in English? And (2) to what extent, if at all, the learning
process and stimulation of natural learning atmosphere had effect on students' attitude
towards exams, tests, and their working relationship.The treatment involved teacher-led instruction an cooperative learning in a class-
room of 35 sophomore students as the experimental group. Outcome was measured and
compared with the result obtained from the controled group of 31 students who were
in the same level, age, and used similar teaching materials.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose :
Seeking new approaches to effective methods of instruction and learning has been the focal point of many educators and psychologists in the recent decades. This need has led to the persuance of research for new teaching and learning designs which are as yet in their developing stages. Among these is : cooperative learning which appears to be a promising method of instruction and learning.
It is this need that has promted the interest in presenting this paper on cooperative learning. The purpose here is to : (1) Demonstrate a pilot workshop on cooperative learning (2) Discuss the main ideas and methods of the design. (3) Present an exper- iment and assess its results. And (4) Draw a conclusions as to the effectiveness of co- operative learning.
An experimental study lasting 16 weeks was conducted of sophomore students enroled in an English comprehension and conversation course at the college of English Edu- cation in Jeon Ju University. The objectives were to find out in what ways cooperative learning was different from that of traditional learning metoods. Specifically : (1) could cooperative learning enhance more the students' learning strategies in identifying the main ideas in a passage? Could it enhance the students'comprehension and retention of main parts of a dialogue in English? And (2) to what extant, if at all, the learning process and stimulation of natural learning atmosphere had effect on students' attitude towards exams, tests, and their working relationship.
The treatment involved teacher-led instruction an cooperative learning in a class- room of 35 sophomore students as the experimental group. Outcome was measured and compared with the result obtained from the controled group of 31 students who were in the same level, age, and used similar teaching materials.
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative Learning (C.L.) in its broad sense stands on the idea that in working together the individuls tend to be imbued, above all, with a strong sense of purpose that impels them both to educate their own selves and to contribute to the progress of others. On a personal level, this purpose is directed towards the development of one's vast potentialities, comprising both those virtues and qualities that should adorn every human being and those talents and characteristics that are the individual's unique en- dowment. On a social level, it is expressed through dedication to promote the welfare of the others. These aspects of the twofold purpose are fundamentally inseparable, for the standards and behavior of individuals shape their environment, and in turn are molded by social structures and processes. To this end cooperative learning should, in my view, be expected to achieve.
A more specific view of C.L. in this presentation in intended in order to address the needs that enhance learning in classroom instruction.
The work of Robert Slavin on cooperative learning upholds one of the many optimis- tic view that speak of success resulting from group work. Succeding in group work, he says, is often one of the most exhilirating experiences in life. Working with others to attain an important goal is so rewarding because not only do we experience sucess our selves, but we help others to succeed.
As a result, groupmates respect and value one another. The power of groups working cooperatively to achieve a common goal is apparent in all realms of human activity. Yet in schools, cooperative activities are mostly restricted to the playing field, and are rarely seen in the academic classroom. Consider the differences between the sport team setting such as in basketball and the traditional classroom setting. In the team, one student's success helps others to achieve their goals. As a result, team members encourage and help one another. In contrast, in the classroom, one student's success may make it more difficult for others to succeed by "raising the curve" or raising teacher's expectation of students. As a result, classmates may discourage each others academic efforts, communicating a norm that those who strive to succeed in academics are "teacher's. pets". Team work is fun, but that is not why teamwork works. Teamwork works because it creates a social and motivational environment that expects and assists maximum effort.
Three concepts are central to all student team learning methods, Slavin says, team rewards, individual accountability, and equal opportunities for success. In all student team learning techniques, teams may earn certificates or other team rewards if they achieve at or above a designated criterion. The teams are not in competition to earn rewards : all or none of the teams may achieve the criterion in a given week.
Individual accountability means that the team's success depends entirely on the indi- vidual learniilg of all team members. This focuses the activity of the team members on tutoring one another and making sure that everyone on the teammate help. Equal opportunities for success means that students contribute to their teams by improving over their own past performance. This insures that high, average, and low achivers are equally challenged to do their best, and the contributions of all team members will be valued.
Research on cooperative learning methods has indicated that team rewards and indi- vidual accountability are essential elements for producing basic skills achievement. It is not enough to simply tell students to work together : they must have a reason to take one another's achievement seriously. Students are rewarded based on their performance in comparison to others, because rewards for improvement make success neither too dificult nor too easy for students to achieve.(Robert E. Slavin 1986).
Forming groups
The formating of cooperative group will very according to the activity, the mumber of students in the class, and the students' abilities. Most cooperative groups work best with three to four students.
◁그림 삽입▷ (원문을 참조하세요)
Cooperative learning appears to be an effective method-a break through for better education. It can be looked at as a new model of instruction and learning for most educational institutions, schools and universities.
The outstanding features of cooperative learning can be summerized in the following words :
Interaction and discussion in cooperative learning is the magical catalyst which opens up to student the whole new world of unexplored powerful, learning opportunity, Students' interaction in workshops leads to elaboration and understanding of difficult concepts and helps them to develop their own learning strategies. Text analysis and identifying the key ideas in the passage, generalization and processing new knowledges and bridging the cognitive relation of the new learning with their prior knowledge are among other features of workshop and term-learning in C.L. Furthermore, the work- shop provide a solid atmosphere for establishing cognitive support in learning abstract concepts and developing intelectual skills. Also students' ability in problem solving is enhanced and a reasonable level of self-esteem and confidence is obtained.
Collaboration is the vital feature of cooperative learning which primarily operates in team-learning and extends to the whole group. The outcome of students' collaboration in workshop or team -learning situations is manifested in such a humane and socially dynamic qualities that not only results in ones own progress but also in understanding of the need and the importance of others progress. This often leads to recognizing the value of kindness and the joy of caring and sharing with others. It encourages students helping and achieving together in a team spirit. It makes learning joyful, exciting and worthwhile, that learning is not merely for the sake of making good marks but rather, for the value of knowledge and skill acquisition. Furthermore, in C.L. the groups and the learning experiences are organized so that : (1) students become accountable for each other's learnings, and (2) students acquire effective group skills and learning strategies. In cooperatively organized classrooms, it is to everyone's benefit to have everyone succeed. Such outcomes are often obtained through the generating effects of promotive group interaction.
There are basically three types of interactions which produce different patterns of behavior and are characterized by, (a) promotive interaction behaviors whereby individuals facilitate each other's efforts to achieve goals, (b) oppositional interaction whereby individuals discourage and obstruct each other's efforts to achieve, and (c) no interaction whereby individuals work independently without any interchange with one another.
The focuse here, is naturally on the promotive interaction since the promotive inter- action is an outcome component of cooperative learning that often produce intrinsic motivation traits. Promotive iteraction normally occurs in a collaborative situation whereby giving and receiving academic tutoring and help is generated. In this situ- ation, student is encouraged by peers to achieve his goal and at the same time encour- age and facilitate the achievement of peers's goal. Evidence provided by twenty three teams of scientists indicate that encouraging one's collaborators to achieve, may have more impact on one's achievement motivation than being encouraged by others to achieve.
Intrinsic motivation is characterized by the motivation traits that are inherent in the cooperative learning activity and its perceived meaning. It creates a situation whereby the student is challenged to find out for himself the generalization or inferences that the subject matter contains as the product of his own thinking and manipulation of basic facts. In promotional interaction environment of cooperative learning the student plays an active, thoughtful role. He is not simply a receptacle for a set of conclusions that have been arrived at by someone else. When promotive interaction in learning extends further, learning becomes sequential and cumulative, with one insight or generalization leading to others as new material is presented, each adding a new stage of breadth or dept to the student's knowledge and comprehension.
Promotive interactional situations can best be achivement through good cooperative goal structures. According to Johnson and Ahlgren Cooperative goal structure tends to result in intrinsic motivation based on the joy of increasing one's understanding and competence, benefiting others, and meaningful feedback from peers. The more cooperative, students'attitudes, the more they see themselves as being intrinsically motivated, perservering in pursuit of learning goals, believing that their own efforts determine their school success, wanting to be good students and get good grades, and believing that learning new ideas is important and enjoyable. Feedback in cooperative goal structure is the result of a good promotive interaction. Giving good feedbacks shows the degree of students's competence on the learning task and indicates the increase of intrinsic motivation. This is in contrast with both, (a) the competitive goal structure and (b) individual goal structure which permiates respectively, (a) from oppositional interaction and results in extrinsic motivation which is intended on winning and benefiting oneself at the expense of others, and (b) from the absence of interaction which also results in extrinsic motivation with the intent of winning and benefiting oneself irespective of others success or failure.
From the foregoing discussion we can infer that cooperative learning situations have a complexity and richness that is absent in competitive and individualistic goal structures. This suggests the direction towards which the learning should be pursued. It is the teachers' tasks that in addition to contributing to the student's academic ability relevant to goal achievent, they must make sure that :
The efforts of the group members are well organized and coordinated, relationship among members are effectively managed, ideas are formulated and exchanged, higher level learning strategies are discovered and adopted, conflicts are resolved, and mutual influence is constructively managed. Keeping each other on task contributing and integrating information, drilling group members, encouraging elaborative thinking, and keeping materials organized are but a few the behaviors required in effective cooperat- ive learning groups. This complexity results in a multidimensional view of one's own and others' competencies. Even low-ability students can promote the learning of more academically able collaborators and can contribute to the effectiveness of the learning group. Students in cooperative learning situations tend in view themselves and their collaborators as having many relevant abilities in contribute.
Active English Communication(F. Mithaq 1991), is a text book prepared for ESL learners of intermediate level and designed to suit cooperative learning environment. It is based on purposeful, task oriented communication-a concept shared by Elizabeth Coelho, Lise Winer, and Judy Winn B.Olson(1989) who says : information sharing and discussions process helps students acquire and refine their oral strategies for a wide variety of language functions. The increased opportunities for interaction allows students more practice in language functions such as explaining, comparing, asking for information or clarification, and expressing opinions. Furthermore, reading strategies and academic skills which can result from cooperative learning include :
- Reading for the main ideas.
- Reading for specific information.
- Checking the text for details.
- Making inferences and perdictions beyond the text.
- Inferring meaning from words in the context.
- Evaluating information and forming an opinion.
- Asking appropriate questions to clarify a text.
- Preparing and delivering an oral paraphrase of a text.
- Asking and answering questions and discussing information.
- Cooperating and interacting with a group on shared learning tasks.
- Synthesizing data for a written response.
- Acquiring background information on common concepts, themes, values. and institutions.