Children have a natural proclivity to teach, help, cooperate, and empathize with others, and these interactions can have positive benefits for children's emotional, social, and cognitive development. This article is about ways music teachers can design peer-assisted music learning activities that will benefit everyone in the class and ultimately…

There is clear evidence that students who are involved in productive collaborative groups outperform their peers. Cooperative group work also results in improved self-esteem, improved relationships and enhanced social and decision-making skills. Johnson and Johnson (1993) identified the elements of a successful collaborative activity. They include…

Although textbooks are filled with practical communication advice, many students overlook the importance of basing practical advice about communication on quality research. This oversight is important for two reasons. First, given the explosion of self-help remedies focused on communication, students should learn to distinguish between…

A peer mentoring program was added to an introductory chemistry course at a large university. The introductory chemistry course prepares students with little or no previous chemistry background to enter the mainstream general chemistry sequence and is part lecture and part small-group problem-solving. Faculty instructors are responsible for the…

The concept of student team learning is described, with details on cooperative learning techniques developed for reorganizing classrooms into exciting, high-achieving places. (CB)

Described is a teaching approach that applies principles of cooperative learning to an individualized program for learning mathematics in grades 3-6. The program, Team Assisted Individualization, has several important elements including student teams, a placement test, curriculum materials, the team-study method, team scores and team recognition,…

This article describes a variety of collaborative writing strategies that teachers can use within the four subprocesses of writing (prewriting, drafting, revising, and publishing). The strategies include, among others, brainstorming, semantic maps, directed reading and writing, discussion tests, editing groups, and group efforts in layout and…

Listening and reading comprehension are seen as problem-solving activities, which require instruction in thinking skills. An instructional technique, reciprocal teaching, is conducted as a group problem-solving activity to teach remedial and special education students to predict, question, summarize, and clarify while reading and listening to…

Presents a study of the cooperative learning method "Jigsaw II." Reports superior academic achievement effects are inconsistent with poorer results reported in earlier studies. Discusses a modification incorporating a group goal achievable only by contribution of all group members. Concludes that cooperative learning must include a group…

Considers cooperative reading and study groups and suggests activities designed to enhance individual learning and study skills for such groups. (NKA)

This book offers an overview of the cooperative learning process, including its rationale, research base, value, and practical considerations, with an emphasis on two key characteristics: cooperative learning's ability to create communities within classrooms, and well-structured, sequenced assignments which allow students to internalize…

In this book, the methodology of cooperative learning, defined as the teaching strategy that involves children's participation in small group learning activities that promote positive interaction, is applied to early childhood education. The book contains the following chapters: (1) A Rationale for Cooperative Learning with Young Children, which…

This document explores teaching and learning of mathematics apart from what mathematics content is being taught. Cooperative learning and peer tutoring are seen as effective alternatives for providing mathematics instruction in secondary schools. The physical and intellectual environments of the classroom are discussed, with special attention paid…

This monograph explores the current use in higher education of cooperative learning, the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. The opening section sets out to define cooperative learning, and to look at the history of the technique, its basic elements, types of cooperative…

Texts of conference papers and summaries of colloquia on classroom environment and interaction in second language teaching are presented, including: "Fluency Development" (James Dean Brown); "Learner Development: Three Designs" (in Japanese) (Hiroko Naito, Yoshitake Tonia, Takao Kinugawa, Morio Hamada); "Desirable Japanese Teachers and Classroom…