There were several changes in the laboratory teaching program in the Biological Sciences at Florida International University (FIU) between 1993-1994. The underlying goal was the improvement of the amount of material learned and retained by the student, but these changes showed little positive improvement. It was deemed necessary for FIU to incorporate a completely different, well-researched approach. At the time of these implemented changes, it became apparent that Teaching Assistant (TA) training and development necessitated a restructuring that would involve the instructor on a more cognitive and interactive level with the students. Therefore, the goal for FIU was to prepare the TAs with a general pedagogical construct that would require a higher level of instructional and collaborative training in order to help improve student learning and retention of materials presented in the laboratory teaching program. The five basic constructs of cooperative learning were employed and the results proved to be of significant benefit to both the TAs and the students in their classes.