Informal Cooperative Learning Research Articles

A Group-Randomized Study Comparing the Traditional Lecture and Informal Cooperative Learning For Undergraduate Radiology Training In A Malaysian University

Purpose: Radiology teaching via the traditional lecture (TL) is susceptible to a decline in focus and engagement, leading to compromised training and competency. In this study, we investigated the teaching of radiology topics via informal cooperative learning (ICL). Materials and Methods: We randomly delivered teaching via the TL or the ICL to four clinical group of thirteen third-year undergraduate medical students. The study involved eleven radiology topics throughout one academic year. For each topic, two groups underwent the TL while the other two learned via the ICL. All students underwent a pre-test at the beginning of each class, consist of One Best Answer (OBA) and Objectively Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to assess knowledge and skills, respectively. They subsequently underwent post-tests with another OBA and OSCE assessments at the end of class and six weeks later. Results: Students who learned from the ICL classes scored significantly higher in the knowledge assessment immediately post-teaching, six weeks later, and the overall score regardless of time. Assessments of skills showed no statistically significant difference between the two teaching methods. However, for both the ICL and TL, post-teaching scores of knowledge and post-teaching scores of skills were significantly higher than the pre-test. Conclusion: Our study provides empirical evidence on the superior competency of undergraduate radiological skills through the ICL. The findings signify the need to engineer competent doctors via innovative clinical training. The novel experience from this study better-orientate radiology teaching and contribute to the broader field of medical education, clinical practice, and patient safety.

Teacher Implementation of Cooperative Learning in Indonesia: A Multiple Case Study

The current study, a part of a bigger study, explored how teachers in Indonesia implemented cooperative learning (CL) in their distinct contexts. This multiple case study design used a qualitative interpretative approach. Following semi-structured interviews with 18 teachers who had attended CL professional development and used CL in their classrooms, four were purposefully selected as cases of teachers. Classroom observations, post classroom observation interviews, and field notes were employed to investigate the implementation of CL. The data were analysed using Miles, Huberman and Saldaña’s framework. Five themes were generated from cross-case analysis: implementation of CL principles, a lack of CL structures, a greater need of group orientation, group composition, and informal CL. The findings indicate that when an innovative pedagogical practice such as CL is implemented in a culture different from the one in which it was constructed, unique contexts both enable and disrupt the successful implementation of CL. This study proposes that further research attention must be given to understanding the challenges faced by teachers shifting away from direct teaching to student-centred pedagogies such as CL.

Guideline to an Effective Implementation of Student-Centered Learning in Engineering Education: Informal Cooperative Learning (ICL)

The year 2020 witnessed several world transformations: from the new millennial of the 21st Century into the 4th Industrial Revolution, and now with the global pandemic of Covid-19. All these require educational transformations, especially in engineering. The challenging world requires new skills, particularly lifelong learning, complex problem solving and adaptability, the blurring systems of the 4th Industrial Revolution needs dynamic and integrated curriculum, and the global pandemic forces the extensive use of online learning. All these transformations, with respect to engineering education, requires the transformation of education from teacher-centered to student-centered learning (SCL), as outlined in the Outcome-Based Education (OBE). This paper systematically addresses how the transformation of engineering education can be achieved with effective implementation of SCL using a simple but just as powerful method, the Informal Cooperative Learning (ICL).

Teaching English tenses in an informal cooperative study group using smart multimedia and gamification

English is an international language that dominates in almost every sector of human activity. Despite learning English as a foreign language from elementary school, Indonesian students still face difficulties in speaking and writing correct English even during their higher levels of education. Researchers claim that traditional English teaching methods have failed to motivate students to keep constant attention. As a result of less engagement in the learning process at an early stage, students end up facing understanding issues. This study aims to introduce a mixed method of teaching tenses in English grammar. This combined teaching approach focuses on increasing motivation, performance, and developing a competitive mentality among students. The method applied is using smart multimedia along with gamification in an informal cooperative learning group. The findings indicated that using gamification and smart multimedia in an informal cooperative learning group increases student performance, motivation, and gives satisfaction to students in the learning process.

PENGARUH PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF INFORMAL TIPE FORMULATE SHARE LISTENING CREATE TERHADAP PEMAHAMAN KONSEP MATEMATIS SISWA KELAS VII.2 MTsN 12 PESISIR SELATAN

This research is motivated by the low ability of students to understand mathematical concepts and students are not used to discussing. The research objective was to determine how the effect of the application of the formulate share listening create informal cooperative learning model on the understanding of the mathematical concepts of class VII.2 students of MTsN 12 Pesisir Selatan.This research is a descriptive quantitative research based on one shoot case study. The population in this study were students of class VII MTsN 12 Pesisir Selatan which consisted of 5 classes. The sampling technique was taken using purposive sampling, so that class VII.2 MTsN 12 Pesisir Selatan was chosen as the sempel class. The research instrument was the final test in the form of an essay and thereliability of . Where based on data analysis the value of the trial class.Based on the calculation results, it was found that the percentage of learning outcomes with the conceptual understanding indicator obtained by students while using the formulate share listening create informal cooperative learning model was quite good. 61%. So it can be concluded that by applying the informal cooperative learning model type formulate share listening create to the students' ability to understand mathematical concepts class VII.2 MTsN 12 Pesisir Selatan is quite good.

The effects of informal cooperative learning pedagogy on teaching effectiveness, task orientation, and learning satisfaction in undergraduate classrooms in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT While cooperative learning (CL) has gained considerable attention in the current discourse about undergraduate quality education, it is minimally used in higher education classrooms, particularly in the developing countries context. Using a non-equivalent control groups design and a sample of undergraduate students (n = 340) from Jimma University, Ethiopia. This study examined the effects of informal CL on teaching effectiveness, task orientation, and learning satisfaction, together with the convergence between these latent variables. For these, the authors used t-test, one-way MANOVA, bivariate correlations, and structural equation modeling (SEM). As predicted, t tests and MANOVA results indicated that participation in the informal CL pedagogy does have low to medium effect on each variable measured (.031≤ partial η 2 ≥ .049 or 0.36 ≤ Cohen’s d ≥ 0.45). This suggests that higher perception of teaching effectiveness, more task orientation, and greater learning satisfaction were associated with informal CL rather than traditional lecture instructions. In addition, as predicted, SEM analyses also confirmed the significant positive associations between the teaching effectiveness, task orientation, and learning satisfaction (.79 ≤ r ≥ .85). Beyond this, the process indicators teaching effectiveness and task orientation, together predicted 85% of the variance in learning satisfaction. Implications are discussed.

КООПЕРАТИВНЕ НАВЧАННЯ: ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ ТА ПІДГОТОВКИ ЗАНЯТЬ

The article deals with the principles of cooperative learning and the ways it changes students' and teachers' roles in classrooms. Cooperative learning is an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task. The authors focus on five basic elements that allow successful small-group learning: positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual, group behaviors and group processing. The authors studied three main types of cooperative learning and their peculiarities. They are formal cooperative learning, informal cooperative learning and base group learning. Use of cooperative learning gives students more opportunities to actively participate in their learning, question and challenge each other, share and discuss their ideas, and internalize their learning. The authority of setting goals, assessing learning, and facilitating learning is shared by all. The authors came to conclusion that along with improving academic learning, cooperative learning helps students engage in thoughtful discourse and examine different perspectives, and it has been proven to increase students' self-esteem, motivation, and empathy.

A Team-Teaching Model in an Informal Cooperative Learning Classroom

Research has indicated that informal cooperative learning (ICL) can make the environment in a classroom more conducive for teaching and learning. Through ICL, students could focus their attention on the material taught in class and help each other in the learning process. However, implementing ICL may require more time and effort from the lecturers because they need to prepare teaching materials and different tasks for class activities. Some-times it may be difficult for the lecturer to monitor all students in the groups when implementing ICL. Thus, this study aimed to explore the im-plementation of team-teaching in ICL classroom. The action research meth-od was used in this study where the researchers themselves involve in im-plementing ICL through team-teaching, evaluate the process, do reflection and change the practice based on the evidence gathered. The participants were 32 first-year-students who were mainly exposed to the traditional method of lecture. Students and lecturers’ activities, behaviors, interac-tions, and reflections were recorded in a research journal and later analyzed to determine the students’ and lecturers’ experience in ICL classroom con-ducted through team-teaching. The findings showed that it was easier to monitor and facilitate the students as well as to manage the class by imple-menting ICL through team-teaching. In addition, the workload of the lectur-ers has reduced which in turn gave them more time to plan, prepare and or-ganize teaching materials.

Preservice Teacher Experiences in Formal and Informal Co-Operative Learning Groups in a Mathematics Course

Co-operative group learning is known to be an effective instructional practice, especially for mathematics. While group work can be incorporated into the classroom in multiple ways, not every group is a co-operative learning community. In the current study, class observations and preservice teacher interviews were used to compare experiences during formal and informal group work. The findings indicate that formal co-operative learning groups, or prolonged interaction with the same group of people, develops a sense of strong community within the classroom, thereby providing a safe space and facilitating discussions. Preservice teachers involved in formal co-operative learning reported they learned better, gained confidence in the subject, and associated positively to using group work in their future classroom. However, preservice teachers involved in informal co-operative learning had neutral perceptions about group work. We suggest that prolonged interactions among the group members is required to establish effective co-operative learning groups.

Invoking and Supporting Engineering Student Mathematical Thnking in Informal Cooperative Learning Classroom

Through our experience in teaching mathematics to engineering undergraduates, we found that students had numerous difficulties with the mathematics learned. Although our students have demonstrated the ability to answer standard or routine questions, there were still some inconsistencies between their ability to answer questions and their understanding of the concepts and the mathematical procedures they were using. In previous work, we had highlighted the importance of mathematical thinking and adopted suitable approaches in teaching and learning of engineering mathematics. However, innovative strategies were deemed necessary to assist students in their learning. In this paper, we will share how we transform our teaching practice to facilitate the development of students’ ability in understanding the various mathematical concepts, in reconstructing them as parts of a whole through cooperative learning. The approach allows them to develop efficient strategies in constructing new knowledge and be empowered with more successful ways of thinking about mathematics and solving problems. Here, we will share our experience in translating some of the theories into classroom practice through informal cooperative learning environment. Data were gathered through our own reflections, classroom observation, and interviews with the students. We will bring to light the findings on the students’ ability to solve problems related to the topics learned and discuss the implications for effective mathematics teaching and learning of prospective engineers.

Interactive Computer-Centered Instructions for Science and Engineering Education

Both the formal and informal cooperative learning methods are proven pedagogical tools that provide the context for engaging students in reflective judgment and consultation. The cooperative method pays close attention to the multiple learning styles of students participating in the classroom project. Our engineering program’s goal is to expose students majoring in engineering (electrical, computer and mechanical) to a positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, development of interpersonal skills and individual accountability. We introduces the use of Blackboards and clickers together to enhance cooperative learning aimed at educating students to succeed in today’s global economy. As such, classroom instruction and group projects were assigned to foster an environment that maximized the use of computers, took advantage of information and resources available on the internet and Blackboards, and nurtured cooperative learning among groups. This paper describes a method to create a learner-centered, cooperative environment, which will engage students, give positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, and will help them to develop interpersonal skills and individual accountability in better understanding, critical thinking and judgment, all of which are necessary skills to succeed in twenty first century economy. This teaching method already impacted hundreds of students from fall, winter and spring, 2007 to spring 2011 and will impact thousands of students in the future. At the end of the courses outcomes were evaluated using developed questionnaires using Clicker response system. To answer one of the questions, “I wish the professors in my other classes use the clicker”, 72.1% strongly agree or agree, 18.3% disagree and 9.7% strongly agree. To answer another question, “The use of clickers in techhnology-21 class improves my ability to learn the material”, 88.3% strongly agree or agree, 9.6% disagree and 2.1% strongly agree. According to the results obtained from the questionnaire, students heavily benefited from the clicker system. The assessments were done anonymously.

An Educational Psychology Success Story: Social Interdependence Theory and Cooperative Learning

The widespread and increasing use of cooperative learning is one of the great success stories of social and educational psychology. Its success largely rests on the relationships among theory, research, and practice. Social interdependence theory provides a foundation on which cooperative learning is built. More than 1,200 research studies have been conducted in the past 11 decades on cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts. Findings from these studies have validated, modified, refined, and extended the theory. From the theory, procedures for the teacher’s role in using formal and informal cooperative learning and cooperative base groups have been operationalized. Those procedures are widely used by educators throughout the world. The applications have resulted in revisions of the theory and the generation of new research.

Effects of Informal Cooperative Learning and the Affiliation Motive on Achievement, Attitude, and Student Interactions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of informal cooperative learning and the affiliation motive on achievement, attitude, and student interactions. Participants classified as high or low need for affiliation used either an informal cooperative learning strategy or an individual strategy while receiving information, examples, practice and feedback from an instructional television lesson. Results indicated that participants who used the individual strategy acquired significantly more knowledge from the lesson and indicated significantly more continuing motivation for working alone than those who used the informal cooperative strategy. Instructional strategy did not influence performance on the application portion of the test. Results also revealed that high affiliation participants expressed significantly more continuing motivation than low affiliation participants for working with another person. Low affiliation participants expressed significantly more continuing motivation than high affiliation participants for working alone. Finally, results indicated that high affiliation dyads exhibited significantly more on-task group behaviors (taking turns, sharing materials, group discussion of content) and significantly more off-task behaviors than low affiliation dyads.

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Convinced that both learning the research process and conducting research can be intellectually satisfying, cooperative learning strategies were employed in a research course taught to undergraduate nursing students. The author describes how formal and informal cooperative learning groups were used to facilitate learning and the development of clinical experimental and quasi-experimental research designs for students' research posters and presentations.