APPLICATION OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN EARLY MATHEMATICS TEACHING – TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES

Abstract

Cooperative learning is a modern teaching strategy in which team work and cooperation become the most important activities of the entire teaching process. The quality of interaction between students and teacher, as main participants in teaching process, is important for successful application of cooperative learning. Beside faster and longer lasting knowledge acquiring, cooperative learning develops critical and creative thinking, communication and social skills and it strengthens self-confidence. Modern methods of teaching mathematics focus on didactical principle of conscious activity above other principles. This means students are major, active factors of mathematics teaching, and not only they participate in the process of teaching, but they also participate in the selection of methods of teaching. This enhances their motivation for work during classes. This means, what is learned through cooperative learning is better used in new situations, knowledge transfer is greater and new knowledge is acquired easier and lasts longer. Specific and abstract contents of mathematics lead to different ways of applying cooperative learning in this subject. That is why we chose this subject, i.e. to explore and point out the possibilities and ways of applying cooperative learning in mathematics.