Cooperative Learning Essay -- Education Mathematics Essays

Cooperative Learning What is cooperative learning? In their article Cooperative Learning in Mathematics, Roza Leikin and Orit Zaslavsky propose four conditions that establish a cooperative-learning setting: (1) Students learn in small groups with two to six members in a group; (2) the learning tasks in which students are engaged require that the students mutually and positively depend on one another and on the group’s work as a whole; (3) the learning environment offers all members of the group an equal opportunity to interact with one another regarding the learning tasks and encourages them to communicate their ideas in various ways, for example, verbally; and (4) each member of the group has a responsibility to contribute to the group work and is accountable for the learning process of the group. The third condition is considered to be important because it shows that cooperative learning is more than just having students form groups in a class. The purpose of cooperative learning is not just for students to work with their peers, but to also be able to interact and communicate, which is very helpful in mathematics in particular. For example, â€Å"Cooperative learning includes the following features: face-to-face interaction, positive interdependence, individual accountability, and building social skills† (Rubenstein, Beckmann, and Thompson 11). Through this technique the students will learn and grow at the same time. However, before beginning this process, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration. Before beginning cooperative learning in a classroom the teacher needs to make decisions. Determining the size of each group is the first choice to be made; this depends on the numb... ...h one another, and therefore developing their social skills. They are learning interpersonal and small-group skills by building trust within their groups and using conflict-resolution skills. Overall, â€Å"Cooperative learning is an effective tool for building collaboration within classrooms, a major component of learning communities† (Rubenstein, Beckmann, and Thompson 11). It is a teaching strategy that, in most cases, is beneficial to all. Bibliography Davidson, Neil. Cooperative Learning in Mathematics: A Handbook for Teachers. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1990. Leikin, Roza and Orit Zaslavsky. â€Å"Cooperative Learning in Mathematics.† Mathematics Teacher 92 (March 1999): 240-246. Rubenstein, Rheta N., Charlene E. Beckmann, and Denisse R. Thompson. Teaching and Learning Middle Grades Mathematics. Emeryville, CA: Key College Publishing, 2004.