This book contains classroom experiments designed to promote group skills. Each lesson has 4 parts: a 3-minute set-up; 5-minute warm-up, 25-minute experiment, and 5-minute clean-up. During each part, each member of the group is responsible for performing a specific task. Included are 34 labs that cover a range of topics: observations, physical…

The effectiveness of cooperative learning arrangements is often attributed to the fact that the learners are not only "passive" recipients but also "active" explainers. To test this assumption experimentally explaining and listening were compared with respect to motivation and learning results. Forty first-year college…

This paper reports on the design and testing of an electronic multimedia bulletin board called the Multimedia Forum Kiosk (MFK). This software tool was designed to support collaborative discourse between multiple participants. The MFK supports students' knowledge building as they read about issues, reflect on comments, and develop a point of view.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning strategies on: (1) performance, (2) attitude toward working in teams, and (3) group behaviors in a technical training context. Subjects were 274 engineering employees enrolled in a required training class that focused on the importance of communicating technical…

For those in Composition Studies, Kenneth Brufee's social constructionist notion of collaboration has been touted as a panacea for all educational ills. Andrea Lunsford and Art Young have recently endorsed a social constructionist philosophy for writing centers. Lunsford asserts that the best collaborative model is socially constructed and aims…

The traditional system of direct instruction focuses on students' acquiring a body of knowledge and developing related skills. It has been recognized for some time now that direct instruction needs to be combined with more humanistic methods of education, which invite students to be more actively involved in the learning process and are focused on…

This ERIC Digest discusses reasons for using cooperative learning approaches in preschool centers and primary school classrooms, ways to implement the strategy, and the long-term benefits for children's education. It is pointed out that early childhood educators can use many of the strategies currently used to encourage cooperation and interaction…

Provides a walk through a model "essential" high school belonging to the National Coalition of Essential Schools. These schools feature the basics carefully integrated into a few subject areas, teaching across the curriculum, pedagogical variety, materials matched to different students, insistence on mastery, cooperative problem-solving,…

This interview explores William Glasser's ideas about educational relevancy and students' needs for belonging, power (feeling important), freedom, and fun. Glasser advocates learning teams and control theory to help students determine their needs and explore alternative choices for satisfying them. Schools cannot succeed at teaching the basics…

This monograph explores the philosophy behind the havruta method of learning. It examines the history of learning be-havruta, describes the benefits, and evaluates whether two models from the world of general education cooperative learning and the cognitive approach may enhance the havruta system. The monograph outlines how this method was applied…

How does individual learning impact team learning? Through an exploratory case study, data was collected from questionnaires, documentation review, observations, and interviews. Three themes emerged describing how an autonomous learner affected team learning. The results indicated that the autonomous learner influenced team learning through…

This book explains how college faculty can use cooperative learning to increase student achievement, create positive relationships among students, and promote healthy student psychological adjustment to college. The book contains practical strategies toward these ends and presents the conceptual framework needed to create a cooperative learning…

Writing center theory in general seems to favor a collaborative model of the tutorial where the tutor and tutee work together to create shared knowledge and a shared text and an expressionist model of the tutorial which requires that the tutor do less talking and more listening. Writing center empirical research, however, suggests that the key…

This study, which was primarily experimental in nature, sought to determine whether cooperative argumentative writing, in contrast to competitive individual writing, has positive effects on student performance and attitudes. A brief qualitative analysis using student questionnaires, journals, and interviews (n=73) was conducted to assess students'…

This report describes a program for increasing enthusiasm for math. The targeted population consisted of mixed-ability split second and third grade self-contained cross categorical, regular education third, and regular education fifth grade math classes in a suburban area located in the Midwest. The problem of frustration, inattentiveness and lack…