You know the feeling: your eyes start drooping… your head starts tilting… you’ll just rest your head on your hand for a second and… BOOM. You’re jolted awake, wondering if anyone else in the room noticed you dozed off (or if they can still see the drool on your chin).
Traditional lectures and meetings are an absolute yawn, right? They are a necessary evil, but it doesn’t leave much in the way of collaboration and interaction.
In an era of modern learning, lectures are out, and hands-on experiences are in. Teach students how to work together while learning the material through cooperative learning strategies.
Cooperative learning is an educational approach designed to help students achieve their academic goals. With this approach, students work in small groups with peers who have similar goals, supporting their learning and the learning of their classmates. Cooperative learning functions on positive social interdependence, meaning that a success for one contributes to the group’s success. It can be universally applied to any subject or age range.
Cooperative learning is built on five main pillars: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, social skills development, and group processing. When students work together in groups or pairs, they have a chance to build all these skills. For example, a Mission gives students the chance to work on pieces of a problem on their own to contribute to their entire team. There are opportunities to collaborate, fail, and try again. That is the key to a successful learning experience: students are willing to try again.
Cooperative learning strategies in the classroom will strengthen students in more ways than one, but we’ll highlight just a few top benefits. If you’re struggling to see students grow, some of our favorite online classroom platforms (like Mission.io) offer data-tracking for skills like initiative and collaboration, so you know exactly what to focus on next.
When students engage with cooperative learning strategies, they show higher motivation and engagement. Students also gain stronger social skills, as cooperative learning encourages student bonding, improved self-esteem, and acceptance of diversity. Teachers even feel the impact too — polled teachers reported a 40% reduction in classroom management challenges. That shows that students are not only becoming stronger learners, but the structured group work makes them better workers too. Cooperative learning invites students to take greater ownership of the learning process, which also explains why students show better knowledge retention from cooperative learning.
Think-pair-share is a simple but powerful cooperative learning strategy that works for any age and any subject. Teachers start with a question, and then students think to themselves. Next, they pair with a partner close to them to discuss their thoughts. Groups will then share with the class what they discussed together.
Think-pair-share is an ideal method because it promotes critical thinking and high-quality responses. TPS creates a safe environment where students can freely share their thoughts.
The tea party method gives students a chance to “meet” book characters, historical figures, and make personal connections. For a tea party, students form small groups to discuss concepts. Each student can take on the perspective of their character/figure. This activity is great for building communication skills, deep thinking, and empathy.
The numbered heads together strategy promotes individual and group accountability. It is perfect for getting all group members to contribute.
To apply this in the classroom, put students in groups. Each student in the group will be numbered off. The teacher will pose a question or a problem, and the students will have to put their heads together to come up with an answer. After some discussion, a random number is called, and that student has to act as the spokesperson for the group’s ideas. Through this strategy, students learn how to participate fully in a group.
Kagan Publishing is a group that promotes professional development and engagement from kindergarten to adult education. They have developed effective cooperative structures like round robin and timed pair share. Kagan structures are linked to higher academic achievement, better relationships, improved self-esteem, and a more harmonious classroom environment.
Kagan learning structures is a reputable source for boosting student engagement. Find more information on their learning structures and available resources here.
Mission.io is an online platform that allows students to work together on real issues. Missions turn group work into immersive, measurable, team-based scenarios. It removes the headache of preparing whole group activities. All a teacher has to do is sign in, add a class roster, and launch a Mission.
Through Mission.io, students work together, and they actually enjoy it.
The jigsaw method is simple: students become experts in part of a topic, then share their findings with the group or class. This can easily be done in small groups, where each member is assigned a different topic. The jigsaw method can also be done as a whole class, where a group is assigned to become an expert.
For example, if studying the periodic table, one student can become an expert on noble gases, another on metalloids, etc. Those students are responsible for learning the properties of those elements, important features, and how to identify them. Then they will share with the class. When combined, all the students’ expert knowledge will complete the full puzzle of the periodic table.
Problem-based learning is a natural fit for cooperative models. Here, students focus on real-world problems that are important to them. This is a student-led structure that allows students to be challenged and think critically. Read more of our ideas on how to fit problem-based learning into the classroom here.
Collaborative writing can work for nearly any subject: creative writing, a lab report, a social studies essay, and more. With this method, students will take turns writing, therefore collectively completing class assignments. Collaborative learning tools, like Google Docs, make this simple. Each student can take a turn writing one sentence at a time, one paragraph at a time, or write for a designated amount of time.
This method again promotes accountability as the students have to each take their individual contributions to make an effective final product.
Exit tickets are a great way for students to reflect on the day or set goals for the next day. Turn this activity from a solo-reflection into a group discussion; provide groups with a reflective question to discuss (what were our strengths with this assignment today? How can we be a better team tomorrow?). After some discussion time, each student can write down one main takeaway on their exit ticket.
Students thrive when they realize that what they’re learning in class actually applies to the real world. Embed problem-solving tasks into every lesson for real-world skills practice. For a geometry lesson, groups can cooperatively plan the layout of a backyard with different plants, chairs, and more. For a social studies lesson, students can use lessons from the past to make a decision on a fictional policy.
Feeling overwhelmed? Worried that your efforts to implement cooperative learning strategies will turn into a wild animal free-for-all? Don’t worry, because there are a few simple tips that can help you make sure students are productive group members and not power-mad dictators.
Pro-tip #1: Place students in structured groups. Sure, it's fun for BFFs to be in a group together. However, it’s more important for groups to be balanced. Heterogeneous grouping is a practice that creates these balanced groups by bringing together students with different skills and strengths. Balance a natural leader with someone who is a hard worker. Pair together a shy student with a student who is a good friend. Balance is key to making sure each student feels like they belong.
Pro-tip #2: Assign a clear role to each group member. This is a great way for students to grow and feel like they have purpose. Assign student roles like team leader, team writer, materials manager, etc.
Pro-tip #3: Let students struggle productively. Productive struggle is a key learning strategy that helps students learn to try again after failure. When students are failing, don’t step in to fix everything. Instead, ask them questions that help them look at the problem in a new way, such as: “What does success look like for this challenge?” or “What could you do differently next time?”
Pro-tip #4: Use tech tools (like Mission.io) to simplify setup and maximize results. You don’t have to do it alone, and you certainly don’t have to spend your entire weekend on a DIY classroom activity that you’re not sure will work. Tech tools can help boost engagement, increase retention, and save your sanity. Read about some of our favorite tech tools for the classroom here.
Cooperative learning and active student engagement are the key to making learning stick. By embracing teamwork-focused strategies, you’ll see stronger learning outcomes and greater confidence in students.
One of the best ways to embed cooperative learning activities into existing lessons is through Mission.io. No student logins, over 100 real-world missions that are fun and fast. Through Mission.io’s data on collaboration and problem-solving, you’ll know exactly what you should focus on next to help students succeed.
Get started with a free teacher trial today. Dive in head-first and bring authentic collaboration, radical engagement, and real-world skills in every lesson for every student.