Cooperative Learning Procedures Research Articles

CoGAN: Cooperatively trained conditional and unconditional GAN for person image generation

AbstractPerson image generation aims to synthesize realistic person images that follow the same distribution as the given dataset. Previous attempts can be generally categorized into two classes: conditional GAN and unconditional GAN. The former usually uses pose information as condition to make pose transfer using GAN. The generated person have the same identity as the source person. The latter generates person images from scratch, and the real person images are only used as references for the discriminator. While conditional GAN is widely studied, unconditional GAN is also worth exploring because it can synthesize person image with new identity, which is a useful manner of data augmentation. These two types of generating methods have their different advantages and disadvantages, and sometimes they are complementary. This paper proposes a CoGAN to cooperatively train two types of GANs in an end‐to‐end framework. The two GANs serve different purposes, and can learn from each other during the cooperative learning procedure. The experimental results on public datasets show that the proposed CoGAN improves the performance of both baseline methods, and achieves competitive results compared with state‐of‐the‐art methods.

A New Open-Source Web Application with Animations to Support Learning of Neuron-to-Neuron Signaling

Pesticides and their associated modes of action serve as real-world examples of chemical toxicity, stimulating student interest and supporting their understanding of nervous system function and cell signaling. An open-source web application called “Neuron-to-Neuron Normal and Toxic Actions” hosts narrated animations of pesticide toxic actions and exists as a resource for instructors of advanced secondary or undergraduate biology courses. This article describes the features of the web application, reports student feedback on the animations, and details a cooperative learning procedure for instructors to use the web application in online learning environments or in-person classroom settings with technology support.

The Comparative Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Learning on Speaking Ability and Self-Confidence of EFL Learners (Research Article)

This study aimed at investigating the comparative effects of cooperative and competitive learning on English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ speaking ability and self-confidence. Moreover, EFL learners’ attitude towards cooperative and competitive learning procedures were explored. To these ends 90 learners were selected on the basis of a sample PET results and were assigned into three 30-learner cooperative, competitive and control groups. The speaking section of a sample PET test and Academic Confidence Scale were administered to the three groups before the treatment. As the treatment, the first experimental group members were engaged in cooperative learning, the second experimental group members were engaged in competitive learning, and the control group received regular teacher-fronted instruction. At the end of the treatment, the speaking section of another sample PET and Academic Confidence Scale were re-administered as the posttests.10 EFL learners were randomly selected from each experimental group and seated for a semi-structured interview. The analyses revealed that while both cooperative and competitive learning procedures had significant within-group effects on the learners' speaking ability, the impact on academic self-confidence was significant only for cooperative learning procedure. Moreover, analyses verified that the impact of cooperative learning on speaking ability and self-confidence of EFL learners was statistically superior to the other procedures. Content analysis of the interview data showed that the majority of EFL learners believed that cooperative learning helps them develop their own ideas in greater depth, enhance their participation and creativity in speaking, improve self-confidence and reduce anxiety.

UPAYA PENINGKATAN PRESTASI BELAJAR SISWA PADA MATA PELAJARAN EKONOMI MATERI MEMECAHKAN MASALAH MEMBACA DATA STSTISTIK DALAM MATA PELAJARAN EKONOMI MELALUI MODEL PEMBELAJARAN JIGSAW, KELAS X IPS 2 SEMESTER GANJIL DI SMA NEGERI 3 KOTABUMI TAHUN PELAJARAN 20

SMA Negeri 3 Kotabumi as an educational institution has the problem of still low student learning outcomes in Economics. Student learning outcomes in economic subjects, especially students of class X IPS 2 are still low. Determination of learning strategies in order to improve the quality of the process and learning outcomes can be investigated by classroom action research, because this study aims to overcome problems or solve problems in the classroom by taking action. One of the cooperative learning techniques is the Jigsaw technique. By implementing Cooperative Learning procedures correctly, it will be able to activate students so that they can improve student learning outcomes Classroom Action Research (CAR) is designed as a study material in the application of learning "Jigsaw" models to improve the ability to solve statistical problems in Economics. This class action research was conducted on students of class X IPS 2 of SMA Negeri 3 Kotabumi in the odd semester of 2018/2019, with 32 students consisting of 15 boys and 17 girls. This research has the benefit of increasing the ability of students to understand economics in this case students are trained to dare to express opinions or differ opinions on issues of presenting data. Learning with the jigsaw model can be presented to improve the ability to understand statistics in Economics. The study design was carried out in two cycles, starting with planning, implementing actions, observing, reflecting, and continuing with the next planning cycle. This research took place in September 2018 until November 2018. Based on the results of the study it was concluded that the Jigsaw model was able to improve the learning outcomes of Economics in class X IPS 2 students of SMA Negeri 3 Kotabumi in the academic year 2018/2019.

A Cooperative Learning Classroom Intervention for Increasing Peer’s Acceptance of Children With ADHD

Objective: The hypothesis behind this study was that trained teachers using cooperative learning procedures with children in their classroom (aged from 6 to 10 years) can influence the social skills of children with ADHD symptoms and their acceptance by their peers. Method: The study involved 30 children with ADHD symptoms attending 12 different classes, where cooperative learning was adopted in some, and standard practices in others. ADHD children’s symptoms, social skills, and cooperative behavior were assessed by means of a teacher’s questionnaire, and the social preferences of the children in their class were collected. Results: Changes emerged in teachers’ assessments of the children’s cooperative behavior in the experimental classes. Improvements in the sociometric status of children with ADHD symptoms were only seen in the cooperative learning classes. Conclusion: These results show the importance of well-structured intervention in classes that include children with ADHD symptoms. Implications of these findings for future intervention are discussed.

Effects of synchronicity and belongingness on face-to-face and computer-mediated constructive controversy.

Adapting face-to-face (FTF) pedagogies to online settings raises boundary questions about the contextual conditions in which the same instructional method stimulates different outcomes. We address this issue by examining FTF and computer-mediated communication (CMC) versions of constructive controversy, a cooperative learning procedure involving dialogic argumentation and the shared goal of reaching an integrative position. One hundred seventy-one undergraduates were randomly assigned to a 3 (synchronicity: FTF, synchronous CMC, asynchronous CMC) × 3 (belongingness: acceptance, mild rejection, control) quasi-experimental design. As predicted, FTF and synchronous CMC conditions increased cooperation, epistemic conflict regulation, motivation (interest-value), and achievement (completion rate, integrative statements), whereas asynchronous CMC increased competition and relational conflict regulation and decreased motivation and achievement. Also as predicted, satisfying belongingness needs (through acceptance) increased cooperation, epistemic conflict regulation, and motivation compared with control. Unexpectedly, there was no evidence that mild rejection diminished outcomes. Results inform theory by demonstrating that FTF and CMC synchronicity represent boundary conditions in which constructive controversy stimulates different social-psychological processes and, in turn, different outcomes. Results also inform practice by showing that synchronicity and belongingness have additive effects on constructive controversy and that satisfying belongingness needs buffers but does not offset the deleterious effects of asynchronous CMC.

Effects of face-to-face and computer-mediated constructive controversy on social interdependence, motivation, and achievement.

Cooperative learning capitalizes on the relational processes by which peers promote learning, yet it remains unclear whether these processes operate similarly in face-to-face and online settings. This study addresses this issue by comparing face-to-face and computer-mediated versions of constructive controversy, a cooperative learning procedure designed to create intellectual conflict among students. One hundred and one undergraduates were randomly assigned to a 1 (control: face-to-face) × 3 (medium: video, audio, text) × 2 (synchronicity: synchronous, asynchronous) experimental-control design. Cooperative perceptions declined and individualistic perceptions increased under asynchronous computer-mediated conditions, resulting in predicted declines in motivation (i.e., relatedness, interest, value) and academic achievement (i.e., completion rate). For practice, findings suggest that synchronicity but not medium plays an important role in computer-mediated constructive controversy. For theory, findings also suggest that social psychological theories based on face-to-face assumptions may need to be modified to indicate that predicted outcomes depend on synchronous social interaction.

Individual and group contingencies in cooperative learning at the collegiate level.

Six sections of an undergraduate human development course (N = 317) taught across two semesters were exposed to one of three cooperative learning arrangements awarding bonus credit for individual and/or group improvement in exam performance: (1) individual improvement first required to earn group bonus credit, (2) group improvement first required to earn individual bonus credit, and (3) individual and group bonus credit earned separately. Based on exam scores in a previous unit of the course, students were categorized as high, average, and low performers. The high performers fared least well when individual improvement was primary in the cooperative contingency but had a much higher success rate under the other two contingencies. Low performers generally had the highest rate of success of all performance groups under all contingencies. Keywords: cooperative learning, group contingencies, individual contingencies, college students. ********** Cooperative learning has been widely used for enhancing academic performance and social outcomes (Slavin, 1989-90). Although much research has focused on cooperative learning at the elementary and high-school levels, cooperative learning may also be a viable strategy for promoting achievement among college students. Johnson, Johnson, and Smith's (1998) meta-analysis of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning approaches among college students and adults found that cooperative approaches promoted more individual achievement than competitive (effect size = 0.49) or individualistic approaches (effect size = 0.53). A primary factor to consider when using cooperative learning procedures is the role of credit or reward contingencies. Specifically, do cooperative learning procedures affect student performance differently when differential weights are given to individual and group performance? Group performance contingencies commonly used in classroom settings can generally be classified as independent, interdependent, and dependent (Litow & Pumroy, 1975). Independent group-oriented contingencies are perhaps most commonly used in working with relative large groups. Criteria and consequences are the same for all students, but each individual student receives access to the consequence based on his or her own behavior. Grades are typically used as consequences in independent group-oriented contingencies. An interdependent group-oriented contingency allows every member of a group to receive the same consequence based on some aspect of the group's performance. Providing students with a reward based on a collective increase in a test score is an example of an interdependent contingency. In a dependent group-oriented contingency, access to a group consequence is based on the behavior of an individual student or sub-group of students within a group. For example, a dependent group-oriented contingency would consist of offering a reward to the entire class if two specific students arrived on time to class. In order to be maximally effective, Slavin (1991) emphasized that cooperative learning procedures must incorporate both individual accountability and group rewards. Similarly, Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (2007) included positive interdependence and individual accountability in their basic elements of cooperation. Positive interdependence consists of group members working together to learn from one another and share in joint success. Individual accountability is crucial because it ensures that each student is held accountable for his or her individual performance. Therefore, cooperative learning procedures often incorporate both interdependent and independent group-oriented contingencies. Applying an independent group-oriented contingency to students in a cooperative learning experience ensures that each student has access to rewards based on his or her own performance (individual accountability). Applying an interdependent group-oriented contingency ensures that students have a stake in other students' performing well, which increases the likelihood of everyone's benefiting from group success. …

Are All Types of Cooperation Equal? Impact of Academic Controversy Versus Concurrence-Seeking on Health Education

Cooperative learning is commonly used to promote prosocial outcomes. It is often assumed that all types of cooperative learning are equal. One way in which cooperative learning procedures differ is in the role of conflict. This study compares the relative impact of two types of cooperative learning (concurrence-seeking which emphasizes harmony among students and academic controversy which emphasizes intellectual conflict among students) on outcomes of a health education program focusing on tobacco use, alcohol use, and AIDS. Participants were 37 students from grades 9–12 in a career-education track in a suburban mid-western high school. The students were classified as being low performing academically and at risk for destructive health habits. Students in the controversy condition, compared with those in the concurrence-seeking condition, significantly improved in knowledge about AIDS, developed healthier attitudes related towards safe sex and cigarettes, developed higher academic self-esteem, generated greater social influence, and improved in constructive conflict skills.

Improving Intergroup Relations: Lessons Learned From Cooperative Learning Programs

This article discusses the need for cooperative learning groups in integrated schools in order to promote more cross‐race relationships than might otherwise be the case. We review research on 8 cooperative learning procedures. Evidence for the effectiveness of these programs in facilitating cross‐race peer interaction is presented.

Cooperative Learning in the Secondary Mathematics Classroom

The effects of cooperative learning on student achievement and attitudes in a secondary mathematics classroom were investigated. In this quasi-experimental design, 2 precalculus courses were compared. Students in 1 class studied the material in cooperative learning groups; students in the 2nd class studied the material independently. Three chapter tests were used to measure student achievement, and a questionnaire was administered to the treatment group members after the study was completed to assess their attitudes toward the cooperative learning procedure. The results obtained from a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (with pretest scores as the covariate) showed a significant Group × Time interaction. Students in the cooperative learning group had increasingly higher test scores than students in the comparison group and significantly outscored the comparison group on the 3rd chapter test. Survey results revealed primarily favorable responses toward the cooperative learning procedure. Most students indicated that they liked working in groups and appreciated getting help from other students, especially for learning difficult concepts. Some students disliked having groups preassigned and permanent, and they suggested alternating group membership.

Cooperative Story Mapping

There is broad consensus that the ultimate goal of all reading instruction is to produce competent readers who comprehend what they read. This article describes one technique designed to promote greater reading comprehension development in students at various points along the reading achievement continuum. We call this technique cooperative story mapping. Cooperative story mapping combines the use of a story grammar strategy with cooperative learning procedures to create an activity in which all students are actively engaged in analyzing and discussing stories. Cooperative story mapping encourages students to interact with each other to share and extend their understanding of narrative text. This interaction is then expanded through whole class discussion. The result, we believe, is greater overall comprehension development.

USING COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE LITERACY SKILLS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

This article argues that the use of cooperative learning strategies in social studies instruction represents a natural match of method and substance. That is, cooperative learning provides the perfect vehicle for helping children understand and experience many of the essential concepts and values embedded in the social studies curriculum. This article focuses primarily on how classroom teachers can instruct their students in essential reading and writing skills while using social studies as the medium for discussion. A brief, illustrative review of the empirical literature on the use of cooperative learning approaches in social studies is followed by a general overview of representative cooperative learning methods and a more in‐depth description of a few specific reading and writing applications. Other potential applications of cooperative learning procedures are described as well.

A Jigsaw Strategy: Teaching Opposing Viewpoints on the Ratification of the United States Constitution

A. Vincent Ciardiello is chair of the Social Studies Department at Jane Addams Voca tional High School in Bronx, New York and Adjunct Associate Professor of History at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. C ocialstudieseducatorsgenerallyagree W-J that two major goals of the twenty first century should be the development of critical thinking and cooperative learning skills (1). These objectives do not have to be separate endeavors. There is an opportu nity to use critical thinking skills while engaged in cooperative learning (2). In deed, cooperative learning research has in dicated that the attainment of higher-level thinking skills is a concomitant develop ment of student team learning (3). In social studies research there is evidence that coop erative learning procedures increase stu dents' thinking skills (4). A cooperative learning strategy that offers promise for the development of think ing skills is the jigsaw technique introduced by Aronson and his colleagues (5). This strategy employs a high degree of task specialization in which students become proficient on selected topics and then share with others in the group. As specialists, students have the opportunity to delve deeply into the topic and enhance their thinking skills. According to critical thinking advo cates, a skill that is essential for cognitive development is that of recognizing oppos ing viewpoints (6). This skill identifies an author's beliefs on issues and recognizes the stated and unstated assumptions that sup port these perspectives. John Stuart Mill offered the following persuasive case for learning this skill: The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this (7). Recognizing point of view is a skill that is readily adaptable to the jigsaw strategy. Each part of an issue can be investigated separately. Since each point of view can stand independent of the others, the mate rial can easily be divided into alternate positions. Each jigsaw group could repre sent a different point of view. All points of view are needed to be known to fully under stand the issue.

Cooperative learning through telecommunications

Computer networking provides a mechanism for developing cooperative learning among students in distant locations and at the same time providing for the professional development of teachers within the classroom environment. The same findings reported for students in cooperative learning settings were found for teachers who participated in Learning Circles on the AT&T Learning Network. Teachers acquired knowledge, developed new instructional strategies, increased their self-esteem and developed professional and personal relationships with their peers.Dewey (1916) was alarmed at the growing split between direct experience and abstract concept learning that had become the daily routine in the classrooms of his time. School experiences, he argued, should weave into its very fabric the values, social order, and processes it seeks to impart and not merely teach about these processes. Cooperative learning is promoted as a way to transform students' school experience in the spirit of Dewey's fundamental principle of direct experiences. Cooperative learning principles, argues Sharon (1984), create a humane, engaging and social instructional system that is more likely to help children assume responsible adult roles and act on their environment creatively.The benefits of cooperative learning environments for children have been demonstrated (Slavin 1983; Sharon 1984; Kagan 1986) but the transformation of traditional classrooms into the social organization required by cooperative learning is a complex process. Can teachers learn to create cooperative learning environments when they themselves are isolated in the traditional model of schools?"The assumption that teachers can creat and maintain the conditions that make school learning and school living stimulating for children without the same conditions for teachers, has no warrant in the history of man (Sarason 1976:123--124)."One way to address the problem identified by Sarason is through the extension of the principles of cooperative learning into the classroom experience of teachers through asynchronous computer networking across classrooms.The Learning Circle design of the AT&T Learning Network parallels Sharon's group investigation model by applying their classroom cooperative learning procedures across classrooms. A Learning Circle is a small number of classrooms that interact electronically to accomplish a shared goal. Each classroom in a Learning Circle is a team that contributes to the overall end product. Asynchronous communication on the Learning Network makes it possible for students to interact with a number of groups at the same time without creating the chaotic situation that would result if this were attempted in a face-to-face setting. Each class sponsors one of the projects in the Learning Circle and then summarizes the collective work for inclusion in the Circle publication. This framework creates cooperative work within a team, similar to the cooperative learning framework, but differs in creating cooperative working patterns between the teams.A Circle coordinator facilitates Circle interaction. But since each classroom team has a skilled leader, a teacher, helping to organize the interaction, there is less of a need for the strong centralized control that characterizes cooperative teamwork within a single classroom. Electronic networks provide a new way to organize cooperative learning within and across classrooms. It provides a tool that helps students and teachers work collaboratively with their peers in distant locations.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING IN A SILENT CLASSROOM

ABSTRACT In the present study, grounded theory methodology and the techniques of participant observation, key‐informant interviewing and document analyses were used to develop substantive theory about what happens when secondary remedial reading students work together in cooperative groups for one academic school year Participants in the study were forty‐eight, ninth through eleventh grade students from four different ethnic backgrounds, who were enrolled in a remedial reading class in a large high school in a southwestern city. Classroom activities consisted of silent reading, reading‐related activities, such as worksheets and games, and writing activities, such as projects and journals. Student relations were determined with respect to their effects on these classroom activities The results of the study showed that when students were seated in groups, cooperative student relations developed over the course of the school year, even though they did not receive instruction with cooperative learning procedures. Students learned to work together, help each other and support each other verbally, when they were allowed to talk, and nonverbally, when they were not allowed to talk. Emotional support and acceptance evolved within groups. Students’ self‐esteem was enhanced. Low emotional involvement with the subject matter was evidenced, however. Affective rather than cognitive cooperative learning developed in this classroom The findings also revealed that students’ daily writing conveyed information about themselves to their group members. Common themes emerged throughout each student's writing. These themes revolved around the students’ perceptions of themselves, their goals, their interests, their families and what they thought was important. Group comments about the writing reinforced the students’ identities and enhanced their self‐esteem Grounded theory methodology, using the techniques of participant observation, key informant interviewing and document analyses, was used in this study to determine what happens in a secondary remedial reading class when teachers employ cooperative learning procedures for the first time. The students were placed in cooperative groups for reading‐related activities, such as silent reading, worksheets, games and tests, and writing activities, such as journaLs and projects. Student attitudes, performances and relations during these activities were studied in order to develop substantive theory about what happens when students work in groups. It is hoped that such a theory will both guide and improve the practice of cooperative learning with remedial reading students at the secondary level

Group Therapy Revisited: Using Cooperative Learning Procedures in Speech-Language Therapy

Group Therapy Revisited: Using Cooperative Learning Procedures in Speech-Language Therapy

Different cooperative learning procedures and cross-handicap relationships.

The effects of different levels of cooperation on cross-handicap interaction were Compared in two studies. In the first study 72 sixth-grade students were randomly assigned to three conditions (cooperative controversy, cooperative debate, and individualistic) stratifying for sex, ability level, and handicap. They participated in the study for 55 minutes a day for 11 instructional days. In the second study, 51 fourth-grade students were randomly assigned to two conditions (intergroup cooperation and intergroup competition) stratifying for sex, ability, and handicap. They participated in the study for 55 minutes a day for 10 instructional days. An Activity Report Scale was given to students to determine who they interacted with in structured class activities, unstructured class activities, school activities outside of class, and activities in the home. The results indicated that pure cooperation promoted more frequent cross-handicap interaction than did a mixture of cooperation and competition. The interaction patterns formed within cooperative learning situations generalized into unstructured class and school activities.