Courses: Quantitative research methods, research methods, basic communication courses. Objectives: The goals of the exercise are for students: (1) collaboratively to design a "real world" survey questionnaire; (2) to analyze survey questions and survey design to address if and how the survey meets its goals; (3) to evaluate the strengths…

Maximize the quality and quantity of peer interactions and transform your classroom into a dynamic, collaborative space for student learning. The second edition of Cooperative Learning and Teaching further explores the principles and techniques of cooperative learning and teaching, beginning with the question: Why use group activities? This…

Leveraging arts-based pedagogy, this interpersonal and/or family communication activity allows students to engage creatively with a concept of the instructor's choosing through the creation of a collective poem. Each student contributes statements that the instructor forms into a poem, resulting in a collaborative artifact that engages students'…

When we spend the first class period focusing on the syllabus and letting students leave early, we miss an opportunity to expose them to the course content. What happens to those who drop that day? By spending the first day illustrating expectancy violations theory, both instructors and students can explicate anticipated behaviors and use them to…

"High Yield Routines 2nd Edition, Grades K-8," is an essential resource for elementary and middle school mathematics teachers seeking to enhance their instructional practices and optimize classroom time. Authored by experienced educators, this book presents effective mathematical routines designed to integrate seamlessly into everyday…

Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Introduction to Communication. Objectives: Students will be able to explain complex theoretical concepts in interpersonal communication through the use of Internet memes. They will then upload these memes to a communal Instagram page where they will be able to review each other's work, thus building a learning…

A constant challenge for faculty is to gain and to hold student interest so that substantive learning can occur. One way to achieve this is through the use of games. This article describes an escape room activity for the classroom that is modeled after commercial escape rooms. This fun, single-session team dynamics exercise can be used in an…

Explicit and reflective teaching of communal goals forms connections between STEM content and practices, providing in- and out-of-class opportunities to reflect on how communal goals relate to class activities. This lesson integrates the concepts of "prosociality" (science helps others and gives back to the community) and…

Collaborative Strategic Reading is an innovative new approach to teaching reading that weaves together two instructional programs: cooperative learning and reading comprehension strategy instruction. In small groups, students work through the four main steps-Preview, "Click and Clunk," Get the Gist, and Wrap Up-helping each other improve…

Diversified small groups in the classroom provide a good opportunity for students to share information and ideas with each other. The research on cooperative small groups points out the benefits of these interactions and describes the process as a powerful forum for developing students' critical thinking and higher-order skills: (1) Cooperative…

This guide provides teachers and students many opportunities. Chapters within the guide present the history of rocketry, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) 21st Century Space Exploration Policy, rocketry principles, and practical rocketry. These topics lay the foundation for what follows--a wealth of dynamic rocket science…

Presents a cooperative learning activity for history or art classes in which students use knowledge rather than money to bid for important works of art. (SR)

An instructional unit designed for an advanced core French class uses a cooperative learning model. Related activities include an introduction and grouping exercise, completion of a question set, wrap-up, evaluation, and followup activities, and vocabulary and questions are appended. (MSE)

Describes a class activity to help students gain insights into the collaborative process and to launch them into a collaborative report. (SR)

Offers eight short accounts from teachers of ways they are using collaborative or cooperative learning in their classrooms. (SR)