Cooperative Learning and its Advantages over Traditional Learning Methods
Cooperative instructional techniques have been around for some timeand they have been used more widely in recent years as certain topics lendthemselves to this type of learning more so than basic and traditionalclassroom instruction (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981).Many studies have been done on this issue in order to determine whethercooperative instruction is better for all types of courses and learning orwhether it only works well on some occasions (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, In one study, approximately one-quarter of class time was utilized forcooperative learning experiences (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, &Skon, 1981). These were introduced into a section of a statistics coursefor beginners (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Thesetechniques were tracked carefully and then the comprehension of thestudents who dealt with these types of techniques was compared withstudents who took the same course and had traditional instruction methods(Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). The study results indicated that students who had been taught usingcooperative education techniques had higher com
Various types of changes were advocated,and these included utilizing real data sets and incorporating topics thatwere currently in the news and relied strongly on statistics andprofitability (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). It has beenfound, however, that this is actually not the case and that these groups,with careful guidance, can actually perform very well and learn a greatdeal about the task or issue that they are studying (Johnson, Maruyama,Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Behavioral learning theory alsohas an assumption that individuals will often work very hard on tasks ifthey see that there is to be a reward for their efforts (Johnson, Maruyama,Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). When cooperative learning is utilized, individuals work in smallgroups in face-to-face situations usually utilizing between 2 and 5individuals (Dietz, 1993). Both cognitive development and intellectual growth appeared to comefrom cooperative learning with instructors and able peers (Johnson,Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). This could also indicate that individuals in particular environmentsdo not feel comfortable implementing something new or doing somethingdifferent and may be concerned about what others will think to an extentthat they worry more about this than about the importance of this type ofeducation for the students that they are teaching (Johnson, Maruyama,Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). As can be expected, this particular study found that while mostteachers had very strong support for the ideas behind cooperative learning,they still used it rarely and acknowledged the fact that they did not useit nearly as much as was actually recommended or preferred (Johnson,Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Various researchers have shown that practices dealing with cooperativelearning have led not only to higher achievement but to increasedproductivity, more effective and also efficient exchanging and processingof information, relationships among students that are considered much morepositive, and a stronger development of the trust of other individuals(Dietz, 1993). This is vital to the task because understandingwhat has happened previously with the group helps group members tounderstand what they must be looking toward in the future and it furthersgroup interaction and learning abilities (Dietz, 1993). One of these was the reinforcement and support that they received byworking in a group (Courtney, Courtney, & Nicholson, 1994). Those teachers who indicated that theyparticipated in various staff development activities geared towardcooperative learning reported that they used cooperative learning in theirclassrooms at higher levels than others (Jones, 1991). In the 1990s, college level cooperative learning became once again thefocus of interest (Courtney, Courtney, & Nicholson, 1994). Many collegesand universities throughout the country are including cooperative learningefforts in various parts of their curriculum and they are structuring manyother programs to involve group work (Courtney, Courtney, & Nicholson,1994). However, it wouldappear that of all of the studies have been conducted about variousdifferent groups that one would be able to compile this type of data inorder to create a study that looks at all of these groups in one largecollection. This does not mean that cooperative learning will work for allindividuals or that it is appropriate for every subject (Dietz, 1993).
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