Informal Cooperative Learning Groups - These goups are put together "on the fly" to help in direct teaching. The use of group activities help to break up a lecture into smaller segments. Less material is covered but material retention is increased along with the students' comfort of working in groups.
Formal Cooperative Learning Groups - This group forms the basis for most cooperative learning. Groups are formed for at least one class period but can stay together for the duration of a project. In this type of group students will become comfortable applying the different techniques of cooperative learning.
Cooperative Base Groups - In order to be considered a cooperative base group the group must be heterogenous and lasting at least one year. Here students can support eachother academically and socially. In this type of group the students will make sure their group peers are completing their work.
------------------------------------------http://serc.carlton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/group-types.html
This puts me in mind of the video that Ladwig linked us to about Finland. We (in Teach Sci) discussed it a while back (one of us brought it up – I have some strong opinions about Finland esp. since they are so homogeneous and well funded! ) and I think all three of these opportunities should exist in a well designed school.
ReplyDeleteI thought of the video a number of times while researching and writing. And I agree all three should exist.
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