Cooperative Learning (Grade 1 to Grade 12) Essay

Cooperative Learning (Grade 1 to Grade 12) - Essay Example Cooperative efforts this way result in participants striving for mutual benefits so that all the members are gaining by the work of every individual. It also helps to inculcate a sense of responsibility among individuals because they know their work and contribution will affect the outcome that is important for all the members. The group members also know that all of them will share the same fate no matter how they work, therefore they work intently and encourage others in the group to work in the same way. Last but not the least, celebration after the successful completion of the task is also mutual and everyone soul from the group is happy and proud of themselves. Group activities also help in the refining of the outcomes of the tasks because there is shared knowledge, expertise and hard work that everyone is putting in. Obviously not everyone has all the knowledge in the world. In cooperative learning situations there is a positive interdependence among students' goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals (Deutsch, 1962; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). Learning goals may be structured to promote coo... e reason being that in today's world, individuals are expected to work together in teams for the accomplishment of tasks which is a tedious job if one doesn't possess the qualities required to work in groups with each other. However, competitive situations are present in which individuals work against each other to achieve one particular goal that only one or few of them can attain. In competition there is a negative interdependence among goal achievements; students perceive that they can obtain their goals if and only if the other students in the class fail to obtain their goals (Deutsch, 1962; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). The presence of competitive situation is equally important in this world. However, the disadvantage is that either they work too hard to beat their class mates or they don't work at all thinking that they don't stand a chance. Elements of Cooperative Learning The essential components of cooperation are positive interdependence, face to face promotive interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small group skills and group processing (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1993). It is under certain conditions that should be present for cooperative learning to be more effective than individualistic and competitive learning. Positive interdependence is when every individual possesses some unique ability or knowledge that contributes in the outcome of the task and the efforts are required and indispensible for the group success. Face to face interaction involves orally presenting and promoting ones ideas to everyone in the group, teaching current knowledge to everyone and discussing the concepts that are being learned so that they can be effectively applied by every individual present in the group. Group accountability should be present