COOPERATIVE LEARNING FOR THE STUDENT-CENTERED

CLASSROOM AN INTRODUCTION TO

COOPERATIVE LEARNING FOR EVERY CLASSROOM

AFRICA TESOL

KHARTOUM , SUDAN

FEBRUARY 26-27, 2016

PRESENTED BY DENISE SILFEE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE FELLOW FUNDED BY THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

& KHALID GINAWIE

AHFAD UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN IN OMDURMAN

2015-2016

GOALS OF THIS WORKSHOP:

-  A basic understanding of cooperative learning

-  Reasons to implement cooperative learning in your classrooms

-  Examples of what cooperative learning looks like in the classroom

WHAT IS COOPERATIVE LEARNING?

Photo cred: www.learning-knowledge.com

“Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different

levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to

improve their understanding of a subject.

Each member of a team is

responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates

learn … creating an atmosphere of achievement.”

Balkom 1992

ONE METHOD FOR CREATING A STUDENT-CENTERED CLASSROOM

Photo cred:smauelmerritt.instruture.com

TEACHER-CENTERED INSTRUCTION OFTEN ISOLATES THE 4 SKILLS:

Listening

Writing Speaking

Reading

STUDENT-CENTERED & COOPERATIVE APPROACHES COMBINE THEM

Photo cred: dallastown.net

WHY COOPERATIVE LEARNING? 21st Century Skills for the Information Age: •  Critical Thinking–solve problems, think deeply •  Communication–clearly convey thoughts & feelings

to others •  Collaboration—work in groups or pairs to

accomplish tasks and help each other learn •  Creativity—opportunities to produce new, novel,

interesting objects, expressions or solutions Photo cred: www.dailygenius.com

THE RESEARCH SHOWS… •  Increases academic performance (Slavin, 1987)

•  Motivates towards learning (Garibaldi, 1979)

•  Increases time on task (Cohen & Benton, 1988)

•  Improves self esteem (Johnson & Johnson, 1989)

•  Increases positive social behaviors (Lloyd, et. al., 1988)

•  Improves language acquisition through comprehensible input in appropriate ways to support learning (Kagan, 1995)

Type of instruction delivery

EXAMPLES OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Many cooperative learning strategies require NO resources other than the text. Some strategies may require MINIMAL resources or materials, such as: •  Paper •  Pens/pencils •  Printer or copier machine

LET’S DO SOME COLLABORATIVE LEARNING! You will read (skim/scan) a case-study or a description of a cooperative learning technique. With your group, discuss the main ideas.

FIRST: 12 MINUTES! You have 12 minutes to skim/scan your reading and discuss main points with a large group: everyone who has your same handout. Consider:

•  How does this technique demonstrate cooperative learning?

•  What does this classroom LOOK like?

•  What are the benefits to the students?

•  What is the teacher’s role?

SECOND: 2 MINUTES EACH! Report Out: Each large group: Choose one volunteer to report to the rest of the group about your cooperative technique.

You will not be able to talk about the whole text:

What are most important ideas?

•  How does this technique demonstrate cooperative learning?

•  What does this classroom LOOK? •  What are the benefits to the students?

•  What is the teacher’s role?

FINAL THOUGHTS? In your groups, debrief: •  Which idea do you like best? •  Have you used any of these ideas or similar ones before?

•  What are your concerns?

•  Where can you learn more?

•  Final questions? (Please choose one question for your whole group, and we will try to address as many of them as possible!)

THERE IS STILL MORE TO LEARN! Thank you for coming!

Please take a copy of the provided resources about cooperative learning.

The internet is your friend! Google: “cooperative learning how-to”

“cooperative learning techniques”

You can contact us at denise.silfee@gmail.com or ginawie@yahoo.com.

SOURCES Balkcom, S. (1992). Cooperative learning. Education Research Consumer Guide, US Department of Education. <www2.ed.gov> Cohen, E.G. (1998). Making cooperative learning equitable. (Realizing a positive school climate.) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Cohen, E.G. & Benton, J. (1988). Making groupwork work. American Educator,12, 10-17, 45-46. Felder, R.M. & Brent, R. (2009). Active learning: An introduction. ASQ Higher Education Brief. 2(4). Felder, R.M. & Brent, R. Cooperative learning. Education Designs, Inc. North Carolina State University. Garibaldi, A. (1979). Affective contributions of cooperative and group goal structures. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 788-794. Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (1989). Cooperative learning: What special educators need to know. The Pointer, 33, 5-10.

Kagan, S. (1995). We can talk: Cooperative learning in the elementary ESL classroom. ERIC Digest Reproduction No. ED 382 035.

Lloyd, J.W., Crowley, E.P., Kohler, F.W., & Strain, P.S.(1988). Redefining the applied research agenda: Cooperative learning, pre-referral, teacher consultation, and peer-mediated interventions. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21, 43-52. Larson-Freeman, D. & Anderson, M. (2015). Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford University Press.

Lightbrow, P.M. & Spada, N. (2011). How Languages are Learned. Oxford University Press. Slavin, R.E. (1987). Cooperative learning and the cooperative school. Educational Leadership, 45, 7-13. Yahya, N. & Hule, K. (2002). “Reaching English language learners through cooperative learning.” The Internet TESOL Journal. VIII(3). <http://iteslj.org/ >