Transcript Think, Pair, Share! Cooperative Learning Teaching Techniques for the Library Instruction Classroom Sherry Young Introduction Cooperative Learning can be defined as collaboration in an instructional.

Think, Pair, Share! Cooperative Learning Teaching Techniques
for the Library Instruction Classroom
Sherry Young
Introduction
Cooperative Learning can be defined as collaboration in an
instructional setting either between or among members of small groups
that achieves learning outcomes, including ability to remember and
utilize what is learned.
In cooperative learning settings . . .
 Groups have common goals toward which to work.
 Students work in small, teacher-assigned groups.
 Teachers provide activity structures that encourage productive
learning behaviors.
 Each student is individually accountable for his or her
achievements.
 Students are rewarded for group success.
Instructor Needs
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Classroom
Movable chairs
Tables that individually seat up to five persons, if possible
Computers for computer-based exercises
Well-planned activities, designed to meet the needs of the
audience in the amount of time allocated
 Knowledge of techniques and how to utilize them
 Previous practice using the techniques
 Students equipped with writing instruments and paper who are
motivated to follow directions and work in groups
Techniques
Jigsaw Group students into sets of five. Assign unique information to
learn to each group member. After reading the material, instruct group
members to take turns teaching their material to their teammates.
Example: Give the members of each group a piece of paper containing
information detailing one way to evaluative web sites. Provide two
minutes of silence to read the material and decide how to explain it.
Ask them to take turns explaining the information to the other group
members.
Think-Pair-Share Pose a question, and ask students to think about its
answer. Instruct students to pair off and take turns explaining their
answers to each other.
Example: Ask class members to imagine they need to research a paper
topic but cannot remember what their library instruction professor told
them about which databases to use to do so. Instruct students to think
silently about how best to refresh their memories and then explain their
answers to their partners. Then call on a few students to explain their
partner’s strategy to the class.
Three-Step Interview Group students into pairs. In step one, ask
individuals to interview their partners. In step two, ask partners to
reverse roles. In step three, select a few students to explain their
partners’ answer to the entire class.
Example: Instruct students to imagine that their psychology professor
has asked each one to compose a five-page research paper focused on
one of the many topics covered in the course textbook. Request that
they think silently about how they would go about selecting a topic and
why they would choose that method. Ask the students to pair off and
interview each other. Each partner should ask the other these questions.
“How would you identify a topic?” “Why would you choose this
method?”
Round Robin Brainstorming Group students into sets of four or five
each, and instruct each group to appoint a recorder. Pose a question having
several answers. Have group members think silently about responses and
then take turns sharing their ideas with the others in the group. Ask group
members not to criticize one another's responses. Instruct the recorder to
write down the ideas. After a few minutes, stop the discussions, and select
a member of each group to read the recorder’s list aloud.
Example: Instruct class members to imagine that their biology professor
has asked each one to compose a paper focused on gene therapy but has
provided no guidance in terms of appropriate number or type of resources
needed to complete the paper. Tell students to imagine themselves
confronted with 253 titles after a global library database/catalog search and
to “brainstorm” ideas as to what to do next. Ask them to name a recorder to
take notes and a reporter to read the notes. After a few minutes, ask
students to end their discussions. Then have each reporter tell the entire
class about his or her group’s ideas.
Three-minute Review Pause during or at the end of a lecture or
discussion. Ask students to work with partners to summarize the lecture or
discussion. After three minutes, call on a few students to share their group’s
summary with the class.
Example: Pause at the end of each lecture topic. Ask students to pair up
and summarize the lecture. Ask one member of two or three of the pairs to
share summaries verbally with the entire class.
Numbered Heads Group students into sets of four, and number the
members of each group one through four. Give the groups questions to
answer. Ask each group to decide upon an answer, and call on all persons
with a certain number to take turns reporting to the class.
Book Ends Ask students to pair up. Give them a topic, and tell them to
spend a couple of minutes deciding how to teach that topic to their
partners. After giving participants time to think, invite them to take turns
teaching the topic to their partners.
Example: Ask students to select an information resource such as
Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, New York Times Index, or a resource
of their choosing. Instruct them to describe the resource by creating a list of
its characteristics. After a few minutes, ask students to use their lists to
teach their partners about the resource.
Cooperative Learning Benefits
Cooperative Learning teaching techniques facilitate learning and
memory by
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Ensuring attention through active student participation
Adding meaning and relevance to the material
Enabling students to learn from “modeling” or through
observation of others
Using repetition and “deep” processing to help move information
into long-term memory
Facilitating future retrieval by mimicking retrieval
environments
Encouraging student participation through expectation of rewards
desire to avoid possible punishments
Students of all ability levels show higher academic achievement when
taught using cooperative learning techniques as opposed to traditional
techniques. Women, members of minority groups, and “at risk”
students especially are likely to show increased achievement.
Cooperative Learning promotes development of higher-level thinking
skills. (See J. E. Ormrod’s Human learning (4th ed.) for detailed
information.)
References
Colbeck, C. L., Campbell, S. E., and Bjorklund, S. A., (2000). Grouping in the dark:
What college students learn from group projects. The Journal of Higher
Education, 71, 60-83.
Goodsell, A.S. (1992). Collaborative learning: A sourcebook for higher education.
University Park, PA: National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and
Assessment.
Jacobs, G.M. (2002). The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T. (1994). Learning together and alone:
Cooperation, computers, and individualist learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T, and Smith, K.A. (1988). Cooperative learning
returns to college: What evidence is there that it works? Change, 30(4), 27-35.
McGlynn, A. P. (2006). Teaching millennials, our newest cultural cohort. Education
Digest, 71(4), 12-16.
Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Human Learning. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Slavin, R. E. (1983). Cooperative learning. New York: Longman.
Slavin, R. E. (1989). Cooperative learning and student achievement: Six theoretical
perspectives. In Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 6, pp. 161-177).
Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.
Terry, W. S. (2006). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and
procedures. Boston: Pearson.
Cooperative Learning. Retrieved May 27, 2007 from
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm
Author Contact Information
Dr. Sherry Young
Director of Library Services
Cameron University Library
[email protected]
580-581-2403
ALA Poster Presentation
June 23, 2007