The Teacher's Sourcebook for Cooperative Learning
Practical Techniques, Basic Principles, and Frequently Asked Questions
- George M. Jacobs - Educational consultant, Singapore
- Michael A. Power - Director of Instruction and Assessment, Mercer Island School District
- Loh Wan Inn - Educational consultant, Singapore
The authors of this volume define cooperative learning as "principles and techniques for helping students work together more effectively." Teachers of every level will find this book full of useful ideas on how the power of student-student cooperation can enliven their classrooms.
The authors share eight key principles of creating effective and efficient cooperative learning (CL), along with a variety of CL techniques and examples of how to use them. Research has shown that by participating in CL, students can benefit in the following areas (supporting research is described in the Resources):
- Improved academic achievement
- More active involvement in learning by students regardless of past achievement level or individual learning needs
- Increased student responsibility for their own learning
- Improved collaborative skills
- Improved student attitudes toward learning, school, peers, and self
- Greater opportunities for the teacher to observe and assess student learning
At the same time teachers are learning a new way to teach, students are learning a new way to learn - along with the content being taught. Just as students can learn better when working with peers, so too can teachers; the benefits of teachers working together with colleagues are also described.
"The Teacher’s Sourcebook for Cooperative Learning has ideas and activities that can be used by all teachers who want to improve their classroom management and promote community building."
"I unreservedly recommend this important resource to any preservice or inservice teachers of young children."
"The authors reveal considerable wealth of experience as teachers and as users of CL. This will be a very successful book."
"This book will give teachers the materials they need to try cooperative learning techniques if they do not currently use them, and it will encourage teachers to expand their cooperative activities if they use some now."
"This wonderfully effective guide to the management and assessment of group work in the high school classroom offers practical strategies, advice, and an answer to the perennial teacher question ‘How do I get kids to work together productively?’ I highly recommend it to any new or experienced teacher as a great resource for incorporating effective cooperative learning strategies into the curriculum."