1. Interaction. The interactions learners have with each other build interpersonal skills, such as listening, politely interrupting, expressing ideas, raising questions, disagreeing, paraphrasing, negotiating, and asking for help. 2. Interdependence. Learners must depend on one another to accomplish a common objective. Each group member has specific tasks to complete, and successful completion of each member’s tasks results in attaining the overall group objective.

将“Cooperative Learning”融入课堂——浅谈英语素质教育

This article reports on a case study that examined the nature and extent of students’ participation in a cooperative learning (CL) intervention, and its effects on students’ learning, satisfaction and gains. The participants included 58 undergraduate students and 2 teachers. The quantitative results showed that 4 inter-correlated pedagogical factors: Cooperative interaction, task orientation, academic challenge, and teaching effectiveness, together accounted for 69% and 52% of the variance in students’ learning satisfaction and gains scores, respectively. Each factor significantly predicted students’ learning satisfaction and gains, β ≥ .27. Also, the qualitative results demonstrated that the teachers were able to incorporate CL pedagogies to existing instructional practices. Correspondingly, students found that they were more focused on their learning, experienced more interaction and enjoyment, and gained more academically than they had achieved before being involved in this initiative. However, the academic culture and local constraints were negative influences on implementation; findings provide an initial evidence-base that demonstrate how shifting the focus of classroom instruction from a content-centred form to a learning-centred form impacts not only the quality of teaching in class but also the quality of learning and other important indicators of students’ success.

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Nurturing Cooperative Learning Pedagogies in Higher Education Classrooms: Evidence of Instructional Reform and Potential Challenges

In teaching and learning environments, many methods, techniques and/or approaches are used. Among these one of them is cooperative learning. It is defined as working in the soul of a team and in the team, the members help, motivate and trust each other. This study aimed at investigating the University prep school ELT students’ attitudes towards cooperative learning.  A questionnaire was given to 166 (F=100, M=66) university students whose ages  were between 18-20 who were all studying at prep school and of different faculties. A questionnaire inquiring on the students’ attitudes on cooperative learning was administered. The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive analysis method. Results showed that 66,9% of the students are at the side of cooperative learning in ELT classes whereas 33,1% of them believed that if they work alone they would have better results and they thought working alone was more enjoyable. A focus group was organized and the students mentioned both negative and positive sides of cooperative work. Furthermore, the findings reported that there was difference in gender in the attitudes towards cooperative learning for the good of females.

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The Attitudes of Students Towards Cooperative Learning in ELT Classes

Collaboration is of increasing importance in medical education and medical practice. Students’ and tutors’ perceptions about small group learning are valuable to inform the development of strategies to promote group dynamics and collaborative learning. This study investigated medical students’ and tutors’ views on competencies and behaviours which promote effective learning and interaction in small group settings. This study was conducted at UNSW Australia. Five focus group discussions were conducted with first and second year medical students and eight small group tutors were interviewed. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was conducted. Students and tutors identified a range of behaviours that influenced collaborative learning. The main themes that emerged included: respectfulness; dominance, strong opinions and openness; constructiveness of feedback; active listening and contribution; goal orientation; acceptance of roles and responsibilities; engagement and enthusiasm; preparedness; self- awareness and positive personal attributes. An important finding was that some of these student behaviours were found to have a differential impact on group interaction compared with collaborative learning. This information could be used to promote higher quality learning in small groups. This study has identified medical students’ and tutors’ perceptions regarding interactional behaviours in small groups, as well as behaviours which lead to more effective learning in those settings. This information could be used to promote learning in small groups.

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Differential impact of student behaviours on group interaction and collaborative learning: medical students' and tutors' perspectives.

This article examines two case studies that describe different ways of working with community partners to create civic engagement experiences in undergraduate education. Analysis of the case studies yields guidance about practical decisions involved in planning, designing, and executing pedagogy that uses engagement to generate what Fink calls “significant learning ex periences.” Emphasis is placed on several key considerations of goals, process, and outcomes for designing courses with community partnerships. The article also highlights a rationale for sponsoring community-engaged pedagogy and identifies the types of resources such work requires to be effective.

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Creating Significant Learning Experiences through Civic Engagement: Practical Strategies for Community-Engaged Pedagogy

In the past few years, many students have begun to lose interest in science and information and engineering technology courses because they find them too boring and hard to learn. To strengthen this field of education and stimulate students’ motivation and interest in learning, this study introduces a theoretical pedagogical framework based on cooperative learning theory and tailored to the realities of the university education system in China. In the framework, a group in a class is treated as a system that goes through different stages and is subject to different input instructions and output outcomes. Based on this structure, teachers’ interventions serve as feedback for controlling inputs to promote the correct operation of the system. This study aims to promote the development of a cooperative learning model for university students. A case study of the application of the framework shows that it has positive and active effects on student learning.

Zhang LuXi

Papers

Implementing a cooperative learning model in universities