INCREASING MOTIVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE
LEARNING
A great strength of cooperative
learning is that it provides teachers with many opportunities to instruct
children in the social, emotional or moral domains at a time when such
instruction is immediately relevant. At the same time, one of the goals of
using co-operative learning is to facilitate children’s development by giving
them opportunities to solve problems on their own. For example, struggling to
solve an interpersonal-problem in a co-operative learning activity can provide
young children with the opportunity to learn why rules are necessary and later,
with teacher guidance, help them to decide for themselves what they need to do to get along
better with one another (DeVries and Zan 1994).
Through observation and trial and
error, teachers can develop their understanding of when and how to provide
support to a group and when to let the group In the affective area,
co-operative learning influences the development of positive attitudes towards
peers, including children from diverse cultural and social backgrounds, and
children with diverse learning needs (Putnam et al. 1996). It has also
helped to foster the development of positive attitudes towards learning, a
willingness to engage with other children, and to work together to promote each
other’s learning. In so doing, children have learned how to deal with conflict,
consider the perspective of others, negotiate how to proceed with tasks, and
share ideas and resources (Johnson et al. 1997; McManus and Gettinger
1996). In fact, it has been argued that co-operative learning experiences are
crucial to preventing and alleviating many of the social problems related to
children, adolescents and young adults (Johnson et al. 2000).
Co-operative learning was designed and
implemented to develop social strategies and acceptable social attitudes in
students, and to improve social relations within and between groups. In
addition, there is a large cluster of co-operative
learning models aimed at cognitive development. Sometimes co-operative learning
is directed at both the social and the cognitive side of human development.
The Basic Elements of Cooperative
Learning
1
Positive Interdependence
Given the different ways in which positive and negative
interdependence may be structured, Johnson & Johnson (1989, 2005) divided
them into three categories: outcome, means, and boundary . First, when persons are in a cooperative or competitive situation,
they are oriented toward a desired outcome, that is, a goal or reward. Second, the means through which the
mutual outcomes are to be accomplished specify the actions required on the part
of group members. Third, the
boundaries existing among individuals and groups can define who is
interdependent with whom.
2
Individual Accountability and Personal Responsibility
Feeling of responsibility increase a person’s
motivation to perform well. Responsibility forces are increased when there is
group and individual accountability. Group accountability exists when
the overall performance of the group is assessed and the results are given back
to all group members to compare against a standard of performance. Individual
accountability exists when the performance of each individual member is
assessed, the results given back to the individual and the group to compare
against a standard of performance, and the member is held responsible by group-mates
for contributing his or her fair share to the group’s success. Archer-Kath et
al. (1994) found that by increasing individual accountability perceived
interdependence among group members may also be increased. The lack of
individual accountability may reduce feelings of personal responsibility.
3
Promotive Interaction
Promotive interaction occurs
as individuals encourage and facilitate each other’s efforts to accomplish the
group’s goals. Promotive interaction is characterized by individuals :
1.
Providing each other with efficient and effective help and assistance
2.
Exchanging needed resources such as information and materials and processing information
more efficiently and effectively
3
Providing each other with feedback in
order to improve the subsequent performance of their assigned tasks and
responsibilities
4.
Challenging each other’s conclusions and reasoning in order to promote higher quality
decision making and greater insight into the problems being considered
5.
Advocating the exertion of effort to achieve mutual goals
6.
Influencing each other’s efforts to achieve the group’s goals
7.
Acting in trusting and trust-worthy ways
8.
Being motivated to strive for mutual benefit
9.
Having a moderate level of arousal characterized by low anxiety and stress
10.Taking
the perspectives of others more accurately than individuals engaged in competitive
or individualistic efforts.
4
Appropriate Use of Social Skills
To
coordinate efforts to achieve mutual goals participants must:
(a)
get to know and trust each other;
(b)
communicate accurately and unambiguously;
(c)
accept and support each other; and
(d)
resolve conflicts constructively
5
Group Processing
Group processing may
be defined as reflecting on a group session to describe what member actions
were helpful and unhelpful and make decisions about what actions to continue or
change. A Purpose of group processing is to clarify and improve the
effectiveness of the members in contributing to the joint efforts to achieve
the group’s goals. The results indicate that the high-, medium-, and low achieving
participants in the cooperation with group processing condition achieved higher
on daily achievement, post-instructional achievement, and retention measures
than did the participants in the other two conditions. Participants in the without
group processing condition, furthermore, achieved higher on all three measures
than did the participants in the individualistic condition.
Students’ motivation to enquire,
reason, learn and apply is increased when educators ensure that classrooms and
schools are dominated by cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic
learning. Co-operative learning is the instructional use of small groups so
that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning . Any
assignment in any curriculum for any age student can be done co-operatively.
There are three types of co-operative learning: formal, informal and
co-operative base groups. Formal co-operative learning consists of students
working together, for one class period to several weeks, to achieve shared
learning goals and complete jointly specific tasks and assignments. In formal
co-operative learning groups teachers:
1 Make a number of pre-instructional decisions. Teachers specify
the objectives for the lesson (both academic and social skills) and decide on
the size of groups, the method of assigning students to groups, the roles
students will be assigned, the materials needed to conduct the lesson, and the
way the room will be arranged.
2 Explain the task and the positive interdependence. A teacher
clearly defines the assignment, teaches the required concepts and strategies, specifies
the positive interdependence and individual accountability, gives the criteria
for success, and explains the expected social skills to be used.
3 Monitor students’ learning and intervene within the groups to
provide task assistance or to increase students’ interpersonal and group
skills.
4 Assess students’ learning and helping students process how
well their groups functioned. Students’ learning is carefully assessed. Members
of the learning groups then discuss how effectively they worked together and
how they can improve in the future.
Informal co-operative learning
consists motivation is reflected in the effort individuals commit purposely to strive
to achieve goals they perceive as being meaningful and worthwhile. Motivation
is aimed at achieving goals, it is fuelled by emotions, and it has social
origins. Motivation, therefore, may be seen as occurring within the context of
social interdependence. Social interdependence theory posits that individuals’ goals
may be positively interdependent, negatively interdependent, or independent.
The interdependence among goals determines the interaction pattern among the
individuals involved, and the interaction patterns in turn determine the
outcomes of the situation; that is, the degree to which the goals are achieved.
The motivational system promoted within co-operative situations includes the
value and meaning of the goals being promoted through striving for mutual
benefit, seeing the ability to achieve the goal being based on joint efficacy,
intrinsic motivation, high epistemic curiosity and continuing interest in
achievement, high commitment to achieve, and high persistence.
From the discourse above, in my opinion
that Cooperative Learning can create student motivation in teaching and
learning process. Involvement actively student can create self-confident,
individual accountability, good interaction and relation among other students
in heterogenous grouping, have sense of belonging, have a good caring among
student. Moreover within cooperative learning has many methods which can be applied
in teaching and learning process so it can develop students’ motivation not only
intrinsic but also extrinsic motivation. We can also see, in educational curriculum 2013
use thematic learning which involve student center actively in teaching and
learning process. Teacher also have role
to guide, facilitate, manage in the classroom activities. In order that can
create the teaching and learning process run well and also deal with goal of
educational curriculum 2013. We, as a teacher should have many role to create
students motivation in teaching and learning process especially in the
classroom activities. Create enjoy, effective, creative, active teaching and
learning process in order student can study well and enjoy.
Sources :
Robyn Gillies, Adrian Ashman-Cooperative Learning_ The Social
and Intellectual Outcomes of Learning in Groups (2003)
Robyn M. Gillies, Adrian Ashman, Jan Terwel-The Teacher_s Role
in Implementing Cooperative Learning in the Classroom (Computer-Supported
Collaborative Learning Series) (2007)
That’s all.. I hope this article benefits for you as the reader also
especially for teacher .
Be a good teacher which deal with four teacher competences.
Thank you….. ;) ;)
