Teaching Methods: Cooperative/Collaborative/Team Learning

Cooperative/collaborative/team learning is an active learning technique in which students work and learn together in pairs or small groups to accomplish shared goals. The sites in this section offer information about getting started with instructional groups, designing group assignments, and using groups successfully. The final site focuses on team-based learning.

"Cooperative Learning: Students Working in Small Groups." Speaking of Teaching, Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching, Winter 1999, Vol. 10, No. 2.
An overview that discusses the value of small groups and methods for using them for instructional purposes.
Link: http://ctl.stanford.edu/Newsletter/cooperative.pdf

"Designing Effective Group Activities: Lessons for Classroom Teaching and Faculty Development," Larry K. Michaelson, L. Dee Fink, and Arletta Knight (University of Oklahoma, Instructional Development Program).
Guidelines for designing effective group assignments and activities, including a checklist to evaluate the effectiveness of group assignments.
Link: http://www.ou.edu/pii/tips/ideas/groupact.html

"Cooperative Learning in Technical Courses: Procedures, Pitfalls, and Payoffs," Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent. ERIC Document ED377038 (1994).
Methods for implementing cooperative learning in courses that stress quantitative problem solving. Contains information useful to anyone wishing to use cooperative learning in teaching.
Link: http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Coopreport.html

Doing CL (National Institute for Science Education).
Practical methods for implementing collaborative learning in all disciplines. Includes numerous structures for using CL plus techniques for helping groups work more effectively. This site also has "teaching stories" of successful CL in a wide variety of scientific disciplines and large and small classes.
Link: http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/CL/doingcl/DCL1.asp

"Collaborative Versus Cooperative Learning: A Comparison of the Two Concepts Which Will help Us Understand the Underlying Nature of Interactive Learning," Ted Panitz (Cape Cod Community College).
A discussion of the principles underlying small group instructional activities with the goal of explaining the difference between cooperative and collaborative learning.
Link: http://home.capecod.net/~tpanitz/tedsarticles/coopdefinition.htm

“The Case for Student Centered Instruction via Collaborative Learning Paradigms,” Ted Panitz (Cape Cod Community College).
This article details the multiple benefits of collaborative learning in four major categories: academic, social, psychological, and assessment.
Link: http://home.capecod.net/~tpanitz/tedsarticles/coopbenefits.htm

The Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota, co-directors Roger T. Johnson and David W. Johnson.
A comprehensive site for all aspects of cooperative learning, with an overview of the topic, articles on various aspects of using cooperative learning, and a newsletter.
Link: http://www.co-operation.org/

Ted Panitz's Cooperative Learning and Writing Across the Curriculum Website (Cape Cod Community College).
A mega-site with numerous links to cooperative/collaborative learning sites on the web. All aspects of cooperative/collaborative/team learning are covered in national and international sites for all educational levels.
Link: http://home.capecod.net/~tpanitz/

Team-Based Learning (University of Oklahoma).
This site has information for getting started and sustaining team-based learning, including links to an online video demonstration, materials for classes using TBL, examples of successful TBL courses, and other TBL websites.
Link: http://www.ou.edu/pii/teamlearning/index.htm

MSU Resources

Library Collaborative Technology Labs: http://guides.lib.msu.edu/page.phtml?page_id=681