Decades of research have documented the positive impacts of cooperative learning on student success: increased learning, retention through graduation, improved critical thinking, and intrinsic motivation. One cooperative teaching technique, however, has received relatively little attention. In the two-stage cooperative, group, or…

The importance of group learning has increased significantly in higher education in the past two decades (Houldsworth and Mathews, 2000). The primary focus of this study is to explore the feelings and experience of students regarding group work and group assessment in higher education. The study is exploratory based on a qualitative focus group…

The use of group work, in which three or more students jointly produce a piece of work for summative assessment, is an established aspect of teaching and learning in higher education. Opinions vary however about whether their marks should vary according to the respective contributions they made to the work. This paper is based on the assumption…

In this article, the author compares how her pupils responded to the same task when working individually and in small groups. She wants to look at communication and the effect that increasing the opportunities for collaborative group work has had on the quality of her pupils' understanding. She became concerned that the 23 "Level D" children (age…

In this second part of a two-part series, the authors share informative teaching tips that ensure students will have ample opportunity to learn specific skills and attitudes relative to cooperation. This article describes the purpose of cooperative tasks in the curriculum. Considerations for implementing cooperative tasks in physical education are…

Suggests the use of toys to help children learn to use prepositions. Also describes a group activity in which children work together to punctuate a piece of writing. (TJ)

This article provides a detailed analysis of the teachers who attended the training for primary education and viewed pre-recorded cassette using Group Observation method. First the paper discusses detailed methodology on group observation and in the second part the findings suggest that for better production of any video programme for training the…

This book reveals some of the structural complexities involved in implementing authentic cooperative learning in the classroom. It also suggests that when full cooperative learning structures are implemented, the benefits in student achievement often can be astounding. Descriptions, decisions, designs, and developments, a simple four-part scheme,…

The purpose of this philosophical paper was to synthesize theoretical and historical foundations of the project method and compare them to modern best-practices. A review of historical and contemporary literature related to the project method yielded six themes: 1) purpose of projects; 2) project classification; 3) the process; 4) the context; 5)…

This study examined how scaffolds and student achievement levels influence inquiry and performance in a problem-based learning environment. The scaffolds were embedded within a hypermedia program that placed students at the center of a problem in which they were trying to become the youngest person to fly around the world in a balloon. One-hundred…

This study, conducted in 2005 in a New Zealand tertiary institution, examines Asian students' perceptions of the much-promulgated cooperative learning concepts in the form of group work and group assignments. Twenty-two Asian students participated in one-hour individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The study found that Asian students…

Although Web 2.0 technologies have been recognized as effective means of conducting group learning activities, a critical and challenging issue of Web 2.0-based learning is the lack of mechanisms for promoting information exchanges and sharing among participating students. To cope with this problem, an intelligent blog system is proposed in this…

There is evidence that students' epistemological beliefs impact on approaches to learning and consequent learning outcomes. Epistemological beliefs have been shown to influence students' approaches to study and problem-solving, motivation and persistence in information seeking. There are also some preliminary research findings that suggest the…

This article discusses the use of teaching teams to encourage active learning in a business communication class. The author offers examples of short activities that can be used to help create an active learning environment. Some of these favorite activities include homework reviews, the value line, 3-2-1 processor, and muddiest point. In each of…

There is a need for collaborative group activities that promote student social interaction in the classroom. Handheld computers interconnected by a wireless network allow people who work on a common task to interact face to face while maintaining the mediation afforded by a technology-based system. Wirelessly interconnected handhelds open up new…