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CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS COOPERATIVE LEARNING?

Teaching practices that provide opportunities to students to learn together in small groups are
known as Cooperative Learning. Cooperative Learning is children learning together in groups,
which are structured so that group members have to cooperate to succeed. Students work
together to learn and are responsible for their team-mates' learning as well as their own. Today,
many teachers in Cambodia are reconsidering traditional practices that emphasized competition
over cooperation in the classroom. Teachers are rethinking whether it makes sense to encourage
students to work by themselves, often hiding what they know from other students in order to
prevent cheating. They are discovering that cooperative learning allows more students to be
actively engaged in learning.

Classrooms are very social places but often when teachers think about learning the focus is on
individual learning and the social aspects are often viewed as a distraction and/or a nuisance. If,
however teachers are able to make positive use of this social aspect and the social arrangement of
the classroom then more learning would take place. Cooperative Learning improves students'
communication skills and enhances their ability to be successful in the world of work and to live
in the society.

Effective cooperative learning is dependent on the sort of

talk, which takes place in the group between students.
According to Vygotsky:
Talking about a question helps create meaning and new knowledge and
understanding; humans make meaning about things ideas develop in a
through talk. Studies have shown that by having to explain
answers to problems to a peer that the act of having to
context of discussion,
clarify and communicate actually enhances the students and they appear first
understanding. In these conversations it is the process of ‘out there’ in the extra-
discussion that is important not whether the answers are
right or wrong.
mental plane.

During cooperative learning activities, each member of a team is responsible not only for learning
what is taught but also for helping team-mates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.
Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and
complete it. In cooperative learning students will:

• Gain from each other's efforts.

• Your success benefits me and my success benefits
you.
• Understand that all group members share in the
outcome.
• We all sink or swim together.
• Know that how well you do is the result of both
individual and team performance.
• We cannot do it without you.

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• Feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group

member is recognized for achievement.
• We all congratulate you on your
accomplishment!

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CHAPTER 2
THE PURPOSE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

2.1 Four Reasons Why Cooperative Learning Is Recommended

The best place to start in trying to use Co-operative Learning effectively is to first understand the
purposes of such a methodology. There are basically four main reasons why Cooperative
Learning is to be recommended:

1. More children actively learning

Co-operative Learning helps to actively engage more children in learning than do teacher-
centred or lecture-oriented methodologies. In using the latter, it is usually only possible to
actively engage at most one or two students in active learning at the same time. By using more
cooperative methodologies in which students work together in groups, all students are actively
engaged on a learning task. Students become more active participants in their own learning, as
opposed to passive recipients of knowledge who only listen, observe and take notes.

2. Children learn to help one another

Co-operative Learning encourages students to support their classmates in a group rather than to
compete against one another. In this way, students can combine their talents and help one
another.

3. Child-to-child learning support

Co-operative Learning provides the opportunity for higher-achieving students to help students
who are slower learners. These higher achieving students can probably communicate more
easily with their peers than can the teacher. The help of these students also increases the amount
of explanation that occurs in the classroom overall.

4. Improved motivation through success

Co-operative Learning helps to improve the motivation of many students by offering the
opportunity to more students to experience the joy of winning (in the case of cooperative
activities that require games) and academic success. In classrooms where students are only
allowed to compete individually, only the few high achieving students will likely have this
experience. In classrooms where the students are divided into cooperative teams, each with its
high- and low-achieving students, the opportunity to succeed is more evenly distributed.

2.2 What Research has Found about Cooperative Learning

Applications of social learning to the classroom first began in the early 1970s. Since that time,
what we now know as ‘Cooperative Learning’ has been one of the most researched kinds of
instructional methodology used in the classroom. Much of this research has concluded that
cooperative learning strategies in the classroom have been highly successful, both in terms of
learning achievement as well as the development morals and values. International research

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(Johnson &Johnson, date)

has found that Cooperative
ADVANTAGES OF USING COOPERATIVE
Learning improves not only
learning but also social LEARNING
development skills and
communication. LEARNING

! increased academic learning

See some of the advantages ! increased critical thinking ability
that researchers have found ! more time spent on learning tasks (less day dreaming)
when studying Cooperative ! increased student retention
Learning. ! increased student motivation to learn
! enhanced student satisfaction with their learning
experience

! SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

! reduces disruptive behaviour

! develops peer relationships
! promote student self-esteem
! students use appropriate social skills
! improved attitude towards school

COMMUNICATION

! students learn to share information

! helps students to consider other people's point of view
! helps students develop skills in oral communication

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CHAPTER 3
ELEMENTS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING
It is only if the main elements of cooperative learning take place in the lesson that efforts may be
expected to be more productive than competitive and individualistic efforts. The main elements
of Cooperative Learning are:

1. Positive Interdependence “Cooperative learning is a

2. Collaborative (social) Skills
structured form of small group
3. Processing group interaction
learning. It is based on two
4. Heterogeneous Grouping (mixing students)
5. Individual Accountability key assumptions, positive
interdependence and
3.1. Positive Interdependence individual accountability”
Students perceive that they need each other in order
to complete the group's task. The key to doing this
(Cottell & Millis, 1994).
successfully is to structure the group so that group
members clearly get the message that " I can only
succeed and do well if the other members in my
group also succeed and do well".

3.1.1 Teachers may promote positive interdependence by:

• Establishing mutual goals (learn and make sure that other group members learn),
• Using joint rewards (if all group members achieve above the criteria, each will receive bonus
points),
• Providing resources that have to be shared,
• Assigning roles to individuals,
• Strengthening a feeling of "shared identity"
(by asking groups to name their group).
• Each group member's efforts are required and
indispensable for group success
• Each group member has a unique contribution
to make to the joint effort because of his or
her resources and/or role and task
responsibilities

3.1.2 Establishing group roles

Group roles will vary depending on the nature of
the task. Some possibilities are:
• Facilitator – leads the discussion and encourages everybody to participate,
• Scribe – takes notes on the group's discussions,
• Time keeper – makes sure the group completes the task in the time set by the teacher
• Reporter – shares the group's ideas with the rest of the class using the scribe's notes
• Illustrator – draws pictures or diagrams needed

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• Messenger/collector – relays information with teacher of other groups, and gathers or returns
materials.

3.2 Collaborative (Social) Skills

The required social skills to make cooperative learning activities successful may not happen
naturally. Teachers need to organise lessons so that there are opportunities for the following skills
to be developed;
• praising each other, promoting each other’s success
• listening, When older students have
• showing patience, become familiar with
• keeping each other on task
• Orally explaining how to solve problems
cooperative learning
• Teaching one's knowledge to other activities, then the teacher
• Checking for understanding can encourage additional
• Discussing concepts being learned
• Connecting present with past learning
social skills such as:

3.3 Processing Group Interaction • Leadership

• Decision-making
In order to improve cooperative learning activities • Trust-building
teachers should encourage;
• children to reflect on how well they are working
• Communication
together • Conflict-management
• group members to discuss how well they are skills
achieving their goals and maintaining effective
working relationships
• group members to describe what actions are helpful and not helpful
• children to make decisions about what behaviours within the group to continue or change

3.4 Heterogeneous Grouping (mixing

students)

Groups should not remain the same for all

activities. Changing the make-up of the group
will create increased social skills by placing
students in a dynamic environment where they
meet new friends and new situations. Groups can
be arranged in a number of ways both randomly
or using the following factors in their
construction:
• past achievement levels
• diligence levels
• sex
• age
• religion
• ethnicity

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3.5 Individual Accountability

One of the most commonly heard objections to having students work in groups is that some
group members will end up doing all the work and the learning, while others will sit ideally by or
be disruptive. This can occur because some students try to avoid working or because others want
to do everything. Activities to promote individual accountability and to keep all children involved
include:
• each student individually takes a quiz, completes a task, or writes an essay when the material
is studied.
• group members are called on at random to answer a question
• Each group member has a designated role to perform. These roles can rotate.
• Each member has different responsibilities for completing different parts of a group project.
For example, if the group need to make a presentation on Phnom Penh, one member would
write about the history, one member about the geography, one member about the economy,
one member about important buildings and landmarks.

In Cooperative
Learning, children must
still do some work as
individuals

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CHAPTER 4
HOW COOPERATIVE LEARNING IS USED IN THE
CLASSROOM

The following pointers should help the teacher to organize Cooperative

Cooperative Learning activities in the classroom in a way which
will contribute to the overall learning environment.
learning is group
work.
4.1 Organising Groups But group work is
not necessarily
! Be sure that the objectives and methods of working
together in a group are clear. cooperative
learning
! Do not simply put students together in a group and tell
them to "work together."
! Be clear about what is expected from students and how they should organize themselves.

! Be sure that there is a clear division of labour in each group. Each student should know
clearly what it is that they have to do.

! Try to mix students of different abilities into A specific division of labour

one group. in each group is a measure
through which to keep all
! Keep group sizes under eight children. Five
to six students in a group is best. group members engaged in
the activity.
! Move back and forth between large group
presentations and small group work several times during the lesson (Stages 3 and 4 in the
MoEYS Lesson Plan Format). Teaching in this way will help to maximize the number of
students on task at the same time.

! Try to create a feeling of group pride in each student. Such feelings will help to strengthen
cooperation in the group and help students to work together better. A feeling of group
pride may be achieved by trying to
keep the membership of groups stable
and/or by allowing students to choose
a name for their group such as "Blue
Group" or "Lion Group".

! Make sure that students are held

accountable for their own learning.
Cooperative Learning does not mean
that your friends do your work for
you. Students must understand that
they will still be tested and graded on
their own individual performance at
the end of the lesson, the month, or

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the year.

4.2 The Teacher's Role in Co-operative Learning

The teacher plays a crucial role in orchestrating and overseeing that group activities occur as
planned. In most cases, the teacher must be sure to establish him or herself as a firm figure in the
classroom but not so firm as to dominate the students. There are also some key duties that the
teacher must be responsible for. Consider some of the important responsibilities outlined below:

KEY ROLES OF THE TEACHER IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING

! Specify academic objectives
! Specify collaborative skills
! Decide on group size
! Assign students to groups
! Arrange the room
! Plan materials
! Assign roles (reader, recorder, calculator, checker, reporter, materials handler etc.)
! Explain the task (explain procedures, give examples, asks questions to check task is
understood by all)
! Test and question individual children (to promote individual accountability)
! Promote inter group co-operation (have groups check with each other and help each
other)
! Monitor students' behaviour (while students are working, circulate to see whether they
understand the assignment and the material, give immediate feedback)
! Praise good use of group skills
! Provide assistance on understanding a task
! Provide assistance on how the group can work together more effectively
! Ask children to reflect on how well they are working together as a group ("process
group functioning") by asking children to summarize.

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CHAPTER 5
CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENTS THAT HELP WITH
COOPERATIVE LEARNING

It is very important for teachers to realize the

influence of furniture arrangement on the way
in which they teach and the manner in which
Blackboard

students learns. Indeed, the dictum that

Teacher's Desk
"furniture arrangements drive methodology" is
a basic element in our understanding of
pedagogy. When student desks are arranged in
rows all facing the front of the classroom, this
will direct our methodology towards a highly
teacher-centered instructional approach.
Students are oriented towards the teacher and

7 Meters
not to other students. Monitoring/
Demonstration
Area for
Teacher
In implementing a cooperative learning
strategy in instruction, it is, therefore,
important that students be oriented towards
themselves (i.e. for group work) with the
teacher in a monitoring role. For this purpose,
the furniture arrangement suggested in the Scale : 1 cm = 0.5 meters

diagram is highly 6 Meters

“from sage on recommended. Where

possible, short desks Blackboard

the stage to should be used in

Teacher's Desk
groupings of three
guide at the with all students
oriented to the center
side” King, of their group. Where
short desks are not
Alison (1993) available, long desks
7 Meters

Monitoring/
Demonstration
may also be used Area for
Teacher
effectively.

In the grouping arrangements shown in the

diagram, students can easily work together in
activities organized by the teacher (or even
themselves). The teacher should note that the
central area of the classroom is kept free and
open to facilitate monitoring and/or Scale: 1 cm = 0.5 meter

demonstrations to groups. Indeed, for purposes 6 Meters

of monitoring, such an arrangement is vastly

superior to placement of desks in rows. It Some suggested desk plans in
should also be noted that desks are still oriented
in such a way so that is possible for students to Cambodian classrooms

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see the blackboard without

having to turn their heads more
than 90 degrees from the
direction in which they are
pointing. This arrangement can
work effectively so long as the
teacher limits lecture-like
presentations to not more than 10
minutes. Group work should take
up the vast majority of time in
the Co-operative Learning
classroom.

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CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
During the last 10 years, many studies have been done to assess the effectiveness of Co-operative
Learning Methodologies. Almost all of these studies have validated the belief that such
methodologies are much more effective in bringing about higher achievement among students
than are traditional competitive strategies. Perhaps even more importantly, these studies have
found that cooperative learning strategies greatly enhance the motivation of low and middle
achieving students. It is also commonly understood that Cooperative Learning strategies not only
improve learning achievement but are also very effective in fostering social development and
instilling values of cooperation and helping behavior. Thus, this methodology is not only a
helpful tool for cognitive development but also for affective competencies as well.

Many teachers in Cambodia tend to prefer classroom activities, which stress competition among
individual students as the chief means through which to motivate them. While these methods
may be effective with a small handful of bright students,
they often have a devastating effect on the majority of Co-operative Learning
students who are not fast learners. The public nature of strategies greatly
competitive rewards and incentives leads to
embarrassment and anxiety for children who fail to enhance the motivation
succeed. When the anxiety and embarrassment are too of low and middle
great, children who know that they are not likely to win achieving students.
no matter how hard they try,
eventually drop out of active
learning. If teachers are really
trying to help all the students in
a classroom learn sufficient
literacy and numeracy skills, this
observation should be of great
concern to them.

The competition between groups,

which is stressed by Cooperative
Learning has motivational
advantages for low and middle
achieving students that individual
competition does not. By grouping
students of different abilities into
one team as is recommended in Co-
operative Learning, the joy of
success can be more evenly
distributed to a greater number of
students in the classroom.

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