The Nature of Cooperative Learning Method
Cooperative Learning essentially involves the students learning from each other in groups, but is not the groups configuration that make Cooperative Learning distinctive, it is the way that the students and teacher work together that is important. In Cooperative Learning, teacher teach the students collaborative or social skill so that they can work together more effectively.
According to Robert E. Slavin, Cooperative Learning usually supplements the teacher’s intruction by giving students an opportunity to discuss information or practice skills originally presented by the teacher, sometimes cooperative methods require students to find or discover information on their own.[1]
From statements above it can be concluded that Cooperative Learning method is a generic term to the teachers instruction, various small group interactive instructional procedures and giving the students opportunity. The students work together on academic task in small groups to help themselves and their teams learn together. When efforts are structured cooperatively, there is a considerable evidence that the students will achieve higher, learn more, use higher level reasoning strategies, build more complete and complex conceptual structures, and retain information learned more accurately.
According to Jonshon at all, Cooperative Learning is an instructional method where the students in small groups can work together to maximize one anothers learning and to achieve their mutual goals.[2] From statement above it can be concluded that Cooperative Learning method is a teaching strategy involving the students participation in small group learning, activities that promote positive intraction, this digest discusses the reasons for using Cooperative Learning method in strategy the long term benefits for the students education.
In addition, Allin and Bacon said Cooperative Learning is an insructional technique that uses the students onw conversation as a vehicle for learning.[3] It means that Cooperative Learning is a teaching strategy involving the students partisipation in small group learning, active that promote interaction and conversation, this digest discusses the reason for using Cooperative Learning in strategy an the long term benefits for the students education. The students work together in small groups help themselves and their teammates learn together. Cooperative Learning requires that the students work together to achieve goals which that could not achieve individually.
Cooperative Learning method allows the teacher to actively involve the students in discovering knowledge through a new learning process, the learning process takes place through dialogue among the students.
Dialogue can be achieved through formulated questions, discussions, explanations, debates, writings, and brainstorming during class. Projects that require a wide range of talents and skills can be assigned to each group member, contributing to the groups overall success. Assigning different roles to different the students and providing scripts for interaction is another application of Cooperative Learning method.
Successful models always include plain old good intruction; the cooperative activities supplement but do not reflace direct intruction (what they do reflace is individual seatwork), moreover they always include individual accountability, in that group success depends on the some of all group members quiz scores or particular contributions to a team task.[4]
It means that the successful forms of Cooperative Learning method are those that provide a good deal of structure as well as rewards or recognition based on group performance. Success models of Cooperative Learning method is that the methods will be oversold and the teachers will be understrained.
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[1] Robert E. Slavin (1991) , Students Team Learning: A Practical Guide to Cooperative Learning Third Edition, University of haway : National education Association Washington DC, p. 88.
[2] Jonshon et all (1998) in Yang, Ai-Shih (2009), The Example of Cooperative Learning (CL) in EFL Classrooms, Department of Applied Foreigh Language: Chienkuo Technology University, p. 99.
[3] Allyn and Bacon (1999), Teaching Language Art..., p. 167.
[4] Robert E. Slavin (1991) , Students Team Learning..., p. 86.
