Category: Uncategorised (Page 2 of 2)

What is Co-operative Learning?

Co-operative Learning is a group process in which students learn from one another, think together, and complete tasks together (Siegel, 2005).  In an article by Johnson & Johnson (1992) the authors clearly emphasize that in order for an individual to learn, a learning partner is required.

In one of my previous classes, my teacher had stated she was trying something new and termed it by the name of ‘Co-operative Learning’. In that class, she very rarely taught but instead got the students to teach. As I had mentioned in my previous blog post that one of the most memorable classes I had taken was an English course in my first year, that Social Studies class was not far behind; I feel that in that class I was able to focus more by listening to my fellow peers.

Advantage and Disadvantage

A major advantage to Co-operative Learning is that “cooperative learning techniques have been found to be more effective for promoting student learning” (Holter, 1994). I think this is particularly beneficial in courses where you need to memorize stories – sometimes someone says something a particular way and you just never forget it. What do you think?

One major disadvantage of co-operative learning is that when students are put in groups it can become about socialization and not learning. A good way to avoid this is by allocating different ‘roles’ to each student.

Relating Co-operative Learning to EDCI 335

Relating cooperative learning to this course, I think of the Interactive Learning Resource. Within our Interactive Learning Resource, we are working with others to create a learning design. On a side note, our blueprint so far has not taken cooperative learning into consideration. 

Additionally, in the material required for last week’s reading/videos, we heard a story of Susan and Robert. Throughout the introduction of these students, and a journey with them through various classes, we see them working together at the end bringing about high-level learning for each individual.

Watch this video referring to Cooperative Learning:

Speaking with Others in This Class:

One thing that a colleague brought up was a video demonstrating cooperative learning- ‘The Jigsaw Method’- I thought this was a brilliant idea to help avoid the major disadvantage addressed above.

References

Holter, N. C. (1994). Team assignments can be effective cooperative learning techniques. Journal of Education for Business, 70(2), 73. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1080/08832323.1994.10117727

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1992). Implementing cooperative learning. Contemporary Education, 63(3), 173.

Siegel, C. (2005). Implementing a Research-Based Model of Cooperative Learning. The Journal of Educational Research, 98(6), 339–349. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.3200/JOER.98.6.339-349

This post is on cooperative learning as well. I love how well the writer related their Interactive Learning Design to this type of learning/teaching style.

Post #2 – Learning Design II

• What is one idea from the readings or videos that you disagree with, and why?
• Share a story about your best learning experience (could be a formal course or something more personal). Why did you enjoy it?

In a video titled Kahn Academy and the Effectiveness of Science Videos, speaker Veritasium discusses how he/she is skeptical about the use of academic videos for teaching purposes. Veritasium states he/she is skeptical of this because with science videos, typically students already have concrete ideas regarding a topic, and those ideas are hard to erase. Although I do understand his/her argument, I would have to say I disagree with this. I feel that I am a very visual learner and typically these videos aid me when I am confused from a class. For me, hearing the same thing stated over and over again helps with my learning experience (we also see in the video The Backwards Brain Bicycle- Smarter Every Day 133 that practicing the same thing over and over again is beneficial). I also feel that some students may not have concrete ideas about a specific topic yet; and therefore, videos would be beneficial for them.

One of the best learning experiences I had was in an English course I took in my first year. The professor I had was super personable and did not mind sharing stories about her family life. Initially, I was very nervous going into her class, as English was not my favorite subject, but I think I will remember her class forever. She showed the class fun videos and was super understanding of my health (this was a big contrast to other professors I had and probably why I remember her so well). On the last day of classes she had brought everyone a sweet treat, and because of my dietary restrictions, she brought me some fruit! I would say that this learning experience mostly followed a Behaviourism view as I feel the treat at the end symbolized a reinforcement for each of us.

Check out this blog! The writer is very clear with their ideas., and this was a post that I found similar to my ideas described above:

Post #1 – Learning Theory