Research Guides: Active Learning: Assessment: Collaborative and Cooperative Learning

Collaborative and Cooperative Assessment

Assessment: Collaborative Learning

FISH BOWL: Different groups of students sit in concentric circles. Each student in the inner circle speaks for a limited time span. This is followed by questions and comments of members from the same group. Next, students from other circles may join in.

SCAVENGER HUNTS: Students can become engaged with course material and cooperate with other students on scavenger hunts. This works well in courses where students can gather information related to the course in teams to build a sense of community.

STUDY-BUDDY GROUPS: Have students form four person study groups that they will automatically move into prior to the start of each class. Create some ongoing assignment for them to be working on that they can discuss together for a few minutes before you begin class. For example, in a "psychology of relationships" course,students drafted journal entries prior to each class pertaining to the reading assignments and to discuss what they had written with their study buddies during the first five minutes of class. When the instructor started the class, student willingness to participate can bemuch higher than usual and the discussion was much richer.

WRITE/SHARE IN A PAIR/DISCUSS: To facilitate a meaningful discussion of material, have students write privately for a few minutes. Then they can share their writing with one other person which is less threatening than presenting to the class. Next, they can either read what they wrote to the class or speak without reading what they have written. Whatever variation you try, having students first think and write privately and then share with one other person usually enhances the quality of the discussion that takes place.

Assessment: Cooperative Learning

The following structures are the most commonly used formats (Parma, 1993):

STUDENT TEAM LEARNING- The techniques were developed and researched at John Hopkins University (Slavin, 1991). The students work together to learn; they are responsible for one another's learning as well as their own. In addition, team goals are set and competition exists between the different teams in the classroom. Individual scores are based upon improvement over previous scores.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE- It allows for the individual to think on his or her own. Then, two people pair and discuss their results. Finally, the pairs are grouped or all of the pairs combine in a whole group to share their outcomes. This format allows the shy person to gain confidence by just sharing with one other person instead of a whole group. Each person engages in conversation which does not happen in whole class discussions.

JIGSAW- A very efficient method for disseminating a lot of information in a short period of time. In Jigsaw, students are assigned to "home" teams. This "home" team is given an article to read; they decide as group the key points. They each become an "expert" on their article. Each member (sometimes two or three members from one group due to the size of the whole class) then becomes a member of another group. This group includes at least one representative from each of the "home" teams. Each representative shares the information from the articles. The "home" teams regroup and complete an assignment containing information from all of the articles. Sometimes, this can be done individually or as an entire class.

TEAMING TOGETHER -This involves small groups working together to complete a project. This format is especially suited to group essays, problem-solving activities, or math problems.

GROUP INVESTIGATION-Students work in small groups choosing a sub-topic from the content area. The small groups divide the subtopics into individual tasks. Each member is responsible for his or her task and then everyone regroups to organize the material. A decision is made about the method the group will use to present the information to the entire class. This structure is effective in content areas where an entire class is studying the same topic.

References

Brindley, J. E., Walti, C., & Blaschke, L. M. (2009). Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Environment. International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 10(3), 1-18. Retrieved October 1, 2012, from Ebscohost.

Conrad, R. and Donaldson, J. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cooper, J., and Robinson, P. (1998). "Small group instruction in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology." Journal of College Science Teaching 27:383.

Dawley, L. (2007). The tools for successful online teaching. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.