GROUP WORK & COOPERATIVE LEARNING AS TEACHING STRATEGIES

GROUP WORK (COOPERATION) O Small group work O Large group work O Critical outcomes (principles of OBE) Focus on the outcome

WHEN AND HOW TO APPLY GROUP WORK? (169) O To reach the ultimate outcome (academic and social) O Focus is placed on the active acceptors of information O Reconstruct / make sense O Work on a realistic task O Learners must work together effectively O Focus on communication O Improve problem solving skills DEFINE OUTCOMES

LIMITATIONS (171) O Learn how to learn in the environment “skills” O Not everybody is willing to do their part O Not everybody is accepted in the group O Cannot contribute and does not feel competent O Teachers do not want take control and places responsibility on learners” O If the activity is not monitored can time be wasted O Arrange the class

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION(172) 1. PLANNING O Plan before hand O Prepare the learners O Design how you will organise the group O Prepare the material O Develop guidelines O Set the problem O Organise and set rules.

2. IMPLEMENTATION (173) REMEMBER IF THE LEARNERS ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE METHOD LET THEM WORK TOGETHER IN A GROUP OF TWO Step 1: outcomes Step 2: give the necessary information Step 3: form the groups under guidance and select role players Step 4:facilitate /monitor Step 5:activities to make the conclusions Step 6: plan assessment

WHAT WENT WRONG ?

COOPERATIVE LEARNING WHAT IS COOPERATIVE LEANING? ROLE OF THE TEACHER ROLE OF THE LEARNERS ADVANTAGES TO WORK TOGETHER TO REACH A SPECIFIC AIM

GROUPS O O Specialist group O Theme O 1 O Using coopeartive learning O O 2 O Why does it work O O 3 O What might go wrong O 4 O Preparing for co operative earning O O 5 O Advantages of co operative learning O 6 O Limitations O 7 O Reflect on learning

ROLE OF THE LEARNER O Positive interdependence between learners O Learners want to understand one another and support one another O Individual responsibility O Appropriate interpersonal skills are learnt O Each member must reflect one what said

ROLE OF THE TEACHER O Division of groups (board; role play) O Task for each group O Determine method of feedback O Summarise O Determine method of assessment O Facilitate (keep focused) O Motivate O Take charge of progress

DISADVANTAGE O Learners do not like group work and prefer to work alone O Must learn from one another –only if it is effective O Do not want to be associated with the group O Success is ensured if learners realize that they are interdependent O Can fail if every learner does not realize that they have a responsibility

ADVANTAGE O Enhances and encourages cooperation between groups O Improves communication skills O Individual and group attempts are successful O Exchange and verbalizes ideas O Learners are encourages to think how they learn O Learners are responsible for own learning and realizes responsibility O A lot of work can be done in a short while Think of an example from your subject where you can apply it.

Reflect critically on cooperative learning as a teaching strategy (see Killan) O Reason for the implementation : more learners seem to be academically successful O Theoretical perspectives - Motivation - Social cohesion - Cognitive development - Cognitive elaboration

Motivation O Group awards motivate students to support one another O Group members achieve personal goals O Must be motivated to learn – does not matter which strategy is applied O Intrinsic motivation

Social cohesion O Students want to help one another, they care and want to be successful O Social interdependent O Self-evaluation –structure a positive climate

Cognitive perspectives O Cognitive perspective s: Interaction -student involvement is enhanced (Vygotsky) O Cognitive elaboration - Why? Motivation and support cohesion between groups - behaviourist: immediate feedback - cognitive : important verbalisation /conceptualisation - developmental process : peer modelling - humanistic :natural curiosity

Large group work O Provide clear indications to ensure that all learners engage during the presentation. O An advanced organizer directs the student on what to do and to listen with attention O Make use of non verbal signals to focus students attention during the presentation O Make use of quality media and technology O Make eye contact and ask various questions/stop the video O Interject humor to make students more alert O Circulate between the students O Presentations should be a learning activity when all following a common pattern

Large group work /small class work O In a large group the learners would cover a common pattern or topic and work individually on it where O in a small group the learners will work together on either a similar or common topic. O In large groups learners have individually responsibilities where in O small group roles are assigned to develop specific competencies. O In small groups the selection of learners in groups must take place (to ensure that good cooperation will take place) before the time where in O large groups the whole class is involved as a single group