May/June 2000

Abstracts

Putting Cooperative Learning to the Test
By Laurel Shaper Walters

Hundreds of studies over more than three decades show a positive correlation between cooperative learning and achievement. Cooperative learning, in which students work together in groups while the teacher functions more as a facilitator than a lecturer, can take many forms, but the success of these environments depends on two key components: promoting interdependence within groups, and holding students individually responsible for demonstrating their knowledge of the material. This article discusses the benefits and challenges of cooperative learning and describes how practitioners are using various cooperative learning models in their classrooms.

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Building a Bridge Between Research and Practice
By Laurel Shaper Walters

This article examines two classrooms--a high school French class and a third-grade classroom--to discover how their teachers are using cooperative learning to help their students. These profiles illustrate how these practitioners select and modify the elements of cooperative learning that work in their classrooms, even though their practices may differ from what research says about how to use cooperative learning most successfully.

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Four Leading Models
By Laurel Shaper Walters

Descriptions of the four leading models of cooperative learning: Student Team Learning, Learning Together, Jigsaw, and Group Investigation.

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