Noting that teens are disengaged in school and increasingly dispirited by social problems, the authors argue that these students need learning environments that foster engagement, connection, and a greater sense of purpose. They make the case for deep learning--learning that helps students "make connections to the world, to think critically,…

Teachers must give adequate attention to teaching social skills and monitoring for total team involvement if they are to introduce cooperative learning successfully. Interpersonal skills are more important than positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual accountability, or group processing skills. Includes five references. (MLH)

Education's greatest challenge is not technology or accountability, but the need to discover a new way of thinking. The shift from a Cartesian to a configuration view of the universe requires new conceptual models and compatible educational practices (like cooperative learning). Concepts of content/process and complexity and chaos need…

The issue of whether cooperative learning benefits gifted students needs to be settled separately from tracking considerations. This article examines four misconceptions about cooperative learning and gifted students to help resolve the conflict. An approach that works for average and below-average achievers can also benefit high achievers.…

The structural approach to cooperative learning is based on the creation, analysis, and systematic application of content-free ways to organize classroom interactions. Structures (outlined in a table) have differing uses in the academic, cognitive, and social domains, such as team building, communication building, mastery, and concept development.…

Some teachers justify group grading for cooperative projects using specious arguments that invoke real-world comparison, employment skills, motivation, teacher workload, and credit for teamwork. This article argues that group grades are blatantly unfair, invalidate report cards, undermine motivation, convey the wrong message, violate individual…

Transforms the debate over cooperative learning and Hunter's mastery teaching model by illustrating how both approaches reinforce each other. Mastery teaching synthesizes the most rewarding aspects of traditional expository instruction, while cooperative learning breathes life into that teaching by inviting both students and teachers to become…

In group investigation, students actively plan what and how they will study by forming cooperative groups according to common interests in a topic. Based on a six-stage process, group investigation is an effective medium for encouraging and guiding students' involvement in learning. A sidebar summarizes relevant research. Includes 17 references.…

People do not know instinctively how to interact effectively with others. For cooperation to succeed, students must get to know and trust one another, communicate accurately and unambiguously, accept and support one another, and resolve conflicts constructively. A seven-step recommended procedure is outlined. Includes nine references. (MLH)

Leaving a door unlocked is the same as giving everyone a key. Schools and teachers must heed this reminder and unlock the doors to understanding, shifting from an intellectual privacy perspective to one of shared intellectual empowerment where everyone holds the keys. Teachers must be learners and openly negotiate knowledge with students; they…

Profiles Andre Allison and Florence Mondry, English teachers at Shoreham-Wading River High School (New York), who have placed composition at the center of their curricula, giving students more responsibility and fostering cooperative learning. Both use reading logs to help students interpret literature intelligently and extract meaning from their…

Critiques Kohn's article (in the same "Educational Leadership" issue) arguing against the use of cooperative rewards. Without group rewards based on the learning of all group members, cooperative learning can degenerate into answer-sharing. The idea that such rewards (usually paper certificates) can be dispensed with is wishful thinking. Includes…

Responding to Slavin's critique of Kohn's article (in the same "Educational Leadership" issue) condemning cooperative rewards, Kohn slams Slavin's faulty research interpretations. Slavin may be correct that few non-reward-based classrooms exist in the U.S., but this hardly demonstrates that the best alternative to bribing individuals is to bribe…

Four literature reviews found that cooperative learning methods using group rewards and individual accountability consistently increase student achievement more than control methods in elementary and secondary classrooms. More research is needed to gauge cooperative learning's effectiveness at senior high and college levels and for instilling…

Research evidence shows that cooperative learning strategies are not equally effective, though most positively affect self-esteem, intergroup relations, and the ability to work with others. To produce achievement gains, these methods must include both a group goal and individual accountability. Includes 19 references. (MLH)