Question No.

01

What is discussion method? How physical space is used

appropriately used in discussion

Discussion methods are a variety of forums for open-ended, collaborative exchange of ideas
among a teacher and students or among students for the purpose of furthering students thinking,
learning, problem solving, understanding, or literary appreciation. Participants present multiple
points of view, respond to the ideas of others, and reflect on their own ideas in an effort to build
their knowledge, understanding, or interpretation of the matter at hand.

Discussions may occur among members of a dyad, small group, or whole class and be teacher-
led or student-led. They frequently involve discussion of a written text, though discussion can
also focus on a problem, issue, or topic that has its basis in a “text” in the larger sense of the term
(e.g., a discipline, the media, a societal norm). Other terms for discussions used for pedagogical
purposes are instructional conversations and substantive conversations.

A defining feature of discussion is that students have considerable agency in the construction of
knowledge, understanding, or interpretation. In other words, they have considerable “interpretive
authority” for evaluating the plausibility or validity of participant’s responses.
he word ‘discuss’ has been derived from the Latin root ‘discutere’, which means to shake or
strike. Thus ‘discussion’ refers to thoroughly shaking up the subject, that is, examining it
thoroughly to reach a conclusion.  A discussion is an activity of sitting and talking about a
specific subject.

Discussion Method
A discussion method is the means by which people share experiences, ideas and attitudes.
Discussion method enables to engage in an orderly verbal interchange and to express thoughts on
a particular subject. Discussion involves two-way communication between participants. In the
classroom situation a teacher and students all participate in discussion. During discussion, the
teacher spends some time listening while the students spend sometimes talking. The discussion
is, therefore, a more active learning experience for the students than the lecture.

Characteristics Discussion Method

 Ensure maximum participation.
 Students have the opportunity to criticize and evaluate.
  Logical and meaningful criticism should be accepted.
 Students should anchor the discussion themselves.
 Keeping teachers as guide.
 Teacher selects the topic only with the help of students.
 Teacher divides the class in to different groups and gives the topic of the discussion to
each group.
 Every group has a leader to anchor and conduct the discussion.
 Students who have leadership quality should be selected for anchoring.
 Relevant topic should only be considered.
 In the end, teacher draws the conclusion of the discussion with the help of leaders.

Types of discussion Method

Discussion method includes

1. Small group discussion technique

2. Socialized classroom discussion technique

3. Panel discussion technique

Appropriate use of discussion method

Discussion method is used in areas in which students already have some knowledge or
experience, discussion may be used to develop the main points to be covered in a lesson.
Students can draw on their experience to contribute to the discussion. All subjects except
mathematics, art, music, and dance can be taught. Discussion may also be used, following a
lecture or demonstration, to help trainees apply what they have learned.

Advantages of Discussion Methods

Discussion method can develop following abilities among students

 Thinking and communicating powers

 Leadership quality
 Expression ability
 Problem solving ability
 Creativity
 Motivation and confidence In short higher level cognitive and affective objectives can be
realized through discussion method.
Disadvantages of Discussion Method
There is a chance that only a few students may dominate the whole discussion.

 It is possible that discussion is initiated on those aspects of the problem with which few
prominent students of the class are concerned.
 It is time consuming.
 Not adaptable to all teaching-learning situations.
 If it is not properly guided, a discussion can degenerate into a consideration of
inappropriate topics adding confusion rather than clarification to the lesson.

Planning for discussion method

 Discussion sessions can be led by the instructor, or can take place in groups. In either
case, the goal is to meet the lesson objectives by allowing the students to:-
i. Relate relevant personal experiences or events which have occurred in the work setting.
ii. Contribute ideas or personal opinions.
iii. Apply what have been learned to familiar situations or solving problems.
iv. Express what had been learned.
 Whether the discussion is instructor led or takes place in groups it must be guided by the
instructor. It must be focused on the objectives of the lesson: it is the instructor’s
responsibility to see that the objectives are met.

Physical Space and the Process of Education

Physical space plays an important role in our everyday life. It determines us, and at the same
time we define it. How these exchanges happen in practice, and why these transitions are are so
interesting and useful, are basic questions for researchers and designers. We live, work and learn
in premises of the past; we cannot be born, teach or work in a place that does not yet exist. Space
and time are related and specially determine us. How the best place for teaching and learning
looks, and how it must be designed in order to make these activities more effective and
enjoyable, are very interesting questions that require future research. This is why the main
purpose of this special issue of CEPS Journal is discussion of the significance of physical space
in the educational process. Content areas that can be linked to questions of space are highly
significant and at the same time very heterogeneous, as they include concepts of school space
from historical, sociological, philosophical, pedagogical, psychological and other viewpoints.
We should not forget the influence of physical space on the didactic aspects of the educational
process, stressing the dichotomy between virtual and real space in our everyday teaching and
learning practice. Further-more, school is a public physical space that serves the local
community, and its formal characteristics express the community’s engagement in sustainable
development as a positive legacy for future generations. The main characteristic of the present
issue is its distinct interdisciplinary focus. Interdisciplinary work requires openness and dialogue
regarding concept definitions, and if some concepts are used interchangeably over time
redundant concepts lose territory. One could argue that the concept of space is vague, and
encourage the use of more precise words like dwelling, landscape, city, or neighborhood.
However, there seems to be a need for a common term for the physical environment in relation to
the social, psychological and cultural meanings attached to it. It might be more difficult to see
common features in research on different kinds of environments if an umbrella term has not been
identified. Space is a term that is difficult to replace.

A notion of space turns up in every corner of our consciousness, in language, dance, sports,
psychology, sociology, economics wherever movement is possible and so is easily applicable on
at surface. Space as experience has to derive from an ability to imagine a dimension that projects
above basic reality, an exposure to a reality greater than we are able to conceptualize. e sense
of space is a mental construct, a projection of the outside world as we experience it according to
the equipment at our disposal: an idea, as H. Hertz-berger says. Awareness of physical space is
thus not a concrete inner experience but a learnt set of activities that we carry out. These
activities help us to compare ourselves with the surrounding environment. Our senses and
memory play key roles in making spatial comparisons. Identity develops as children learn to
differentiate themselves from the people around them, and, in the same way, place-identity
develops as a child learns to see her or himself as distinct from, but related to, the physical
environment. Among the first identity determinants are those rooted in the child’s experience
with toys, clothes and rooms. The home is the environment of primary importance, followed by
the neighborhood and the school. Here, social and environmental skills and relation-ships are
learned, and the »lenses« are formed through which the child will later recognize, evaluate and
create places.

A place, a defined portion of physical space, can also be defined as a social entity providing
identity. However, the converse is also true: places are also influenced by people’s identities.
People personalize their homes and workplaces with decorations, so that their houses and
gardens reflect and communicate who they are the physical space of school is also a personalized
space that reflects the personality of the teachers, authorities and children that live and work
there on an everyday basis. Environmental images can be analyzed in terms of identity, structure
and meaning. Efficient images demand distinguishing features. This is called identity. Such
images suggest a spatial relationship to the viewer and other objects; they contain practical or
emotional significance for the viewer. It is necessary to take into account the physical quality of
the elements, which must be significant enough to enable the identification of spatial structure
and the functioning of the imagination, or readability, evidence. As regards the development of
the image viewer and the viewed image, there are two poles on which to build: material changes
in the environment and leading the viewer to new incentives that may change old images. Places
and objects define space and give space personality. Space becomes a place when it gets precise
definition and meaning. It is also argued that the individual’s experiences of spaces are related to
memories from childhood, which provides a framework of references that play an important role
in the formation of adult identity. The role of school physical space memory is definitely crucial.

Schools as lived spaces

When we think about space and buildings we often reduce them to neutral objects at certain
locations. We classify them by measuring distances and looking at coordinates on a map. There
can be times when this is useful, but such an analysis of space hides some of its fundamental
characteristics. It first of all hides the fact that we experience space in individual ways. 100 m is
considered to be an exact spatial measurement, yet although the measurements might be the
same for the first and the last hundred meters of a marathon, they are experienced differently. It
is unlikely that they are seen as exactly the ‘same distance’ by those who run them. And what
might be a small room for one person could be a big one for the next. It depends on what we
measure it against. Our spatial experiences of the past shape our spatial experiences of the
present.

The manifold spatial metaphors in our language have standardized some of the common spatial
associations and are the result of shared experiences. We say we are ‘close’ to somebody,
because most of us like being physically close to people we like and care about. However, as
well as these standardized spatial associations often manifested in language, there are also many
very individual associations. I suspect most of us have experienced spaces as good or bad
because certain memories are linked to them; for example, I avoid the space where I had an
accident, even though the layout and structure of the space has been changed since. Thus, on the
one hand, spaces become enshrined with past experiences, while, on the other hand, these
experiences are vital for us in order to ‘read’ spaces, as the past spatial experiences provide a
‘spatial reference network’, which enables us to understand space, as well as produce spatial
meanings. The increasing creation and experience of virtual spaces also emphasizes this link
between memory and the reading and writing of spaces.
 Question no. 02

Illustrate cooperative learning techniques.

Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into
academic and social learning experiences. There is much more to cooperative learning than
merely arranging students into groups, and it has been described as "structuring positive
interdependence." Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic
goals. Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive in nature, students learning
cooperatively can capitalize on one another's resources and skills (asking one another for
information, evaluating one another's ideas, monitoring one another's work, etc.). Furthermore,
the teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning. Everyone
succeeds when the group succeeds. Ross and Smyth (1995) describe successful cooperative
learning tasks as intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended, and involve higher order
thinking tasks. Cooperative learning has also been linked to increased levels of student
satisfaction.

Five essential elements are identified for the successful incorporation of cooperative learning in
the classroom:

 positive interdependence
 individual and group accountability
 promotive interaction (face to face)
 teaching the students the required interpersonal and small group skills
 Group processing.

According to Johnson and Johnson's meta-analysis, students in cooperative learning settings

compared to those in individualistic or competitive learning settings, achieve more, reason better,
gain higher self-esteem, like classmates and the learning tasks more and have more perceived
social support.

History
Prior to World War II, social theorists such as Allport, Watson, Shaw, and Mead began
establishing cooperative learning theory after finding that group work was more effective and
efficient in quantity, quality, and overall productivity when compared to working alone.
However, it wasn't until 1937 when researchers May and Doob found that people who cooperate
and work together to achieve shared goals were more successful in attaining outcomes, than
those who strived independently to complete the same goals. Furthermore, they found that
independent achievers had a greater likelihood of displaying competitive behaviors.
Philosophers and psychologists in the 1930s and 1940s such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and
Morton Deutsh also influenced the cooperative learning theory practiced today.[14] Dewey
believed it was important that students develop knowledge and social skills that could be used
outside of the classroom, and in the democratic society. This theory portrayed students as active
recipients of knowledge by discussing information and answers in groups, engaging in the
learning process together rather than being passive receivers of information (e.g., teacher talking,
students listening).

Lewin's contributions to cooperative learning were based on the ideas of establishing

relationships between group members in order to successfully carry out and achieve the learning
goal. Deutsh's contribution to cooperative learning was positive social interdependence, the idea
that the student is responsible for contributing to group knowledge.

Since then, David and Roger Johnson have been actively contributing to the cooperative learning
theory. In 1975, they identified that cooperative learning promoted mutual liking, better
communication, high acceptance and support, as well as demonstrated an increase in a variety of
thinking strategies among individuals in the group. Students who showed to be more competitive
lacked in their interaction and trust with others, as well as in their emotional involvement with
other students.

In 1994 Johnson and Johnson published the five elements (positive interdependence, individual
accountability, face-to-face interaction, social skills, and processing) essential for effective group
learning, achievement, and higher-order social, personal and cognitive skills (e.g., problem
solving, reasoning, and decision-making, planning, organizing, and reflecting).

Theoretical base
Social interdependence theory: Social interdependence exists when the outcomes of individuals
are affected by their own and others' actions. There are two types of social interdependence:
positive (when the actions of individuals promote the achievement of joint goals) and negative
(when the actions of individuals obstruct the achievement of each other's goals). Social
interdependence may be differentiated from social dependence, independence, and helplessness.
Social dependence exists when the goal achievement of Person A is affected by Person B's
actions, but the reverse is not true. Social independence exists when the goal achievement of
Person A is unaffected by Person B's actions and vice versa. Social helplessness exists when
neither the person nor other can influence goal achievement.

Kurt Lewin proposed that the essence of a group is the interdependence among members that
results in the group being a dynamic whole so that a change in the state of any member or
subgroup changes the state of any other member or subgroup. Group members are made
interdependent through common goals. As members perceive their common goals, a state of
tension arises that motivates movement toward the accomplishment of the goals.

Morton Deutsch extended Lewin's notions by examining how the tension systems of different
people may be interrelated. He conceptualized two types of social interdependence—positive and
negative. Positive interdependence exists when there is a positive correlation among individuals'
goal attainments; individuals perceive that they can attain their goal if and only if the other
individuals with whom they are cooperatively linked attain their goals. Positive interdependence
results in promotive interaction. Negative interdependence exists when there is a negative
correlation among individuals' goal achievements; individual perceive that they can obtain their
goals if and only if the other individuals with whom they are competitively like fail to obtain
their goals. Negative interdependence results in oppositional or content interaction. No
interdependence exists when there is no correlation among individuals' goal achievements;
individuals perceive that the achievement of their goals is unrelated to the goal achievement of
others. The basic premise of social interdependence theory is that how participants' goals are
structured determines the ways they interact and the interaction pattern determine the outcomes
of the situation.

Types
Formal cooperative learning is structured, facilitated, and monitored by the educator over time
and is used to achieve group goals in task work (e.g. completing a unit). Any course material or
assignment can be adapted to this type of learning, and groups can vary from 2-6 people with
discussions lasting from a few minutes up to an entire period. Types of formal cooperative
learning strategies include:

 The jigsaw technique

 Assignments that involve group problem-solving and decision making
 Laboratory or experiment assignments
 Peer review work (e.g. editing writing assignments).

Having experience and developing skill with this type of learning often facilitates informal and
base learning. Jigsaw activities are wonderful because the student assumes the role of the teacher
on a given topic and is in charge of teaching the topic to a classmate. The idea is that if students
can teach something, they have already learned the material.

Informal cooperative learning incorporates group learning with passive teaching by drawing
attention to material through small groups throughout the lesson or by discussion at the end of a
lesson, and typically involves groups of two (e.g. turn-to-your-partner discussions). These groups
are often temporary and can change from lesson to lesson (very much unlike formal learning
where 2 students may be lab partners throughout the entire semester contributing to one another's
knowledge of science).

Discussions typically have four components that include formulating a response to questions
asked by the educator, sharing responses to the questions asked with a partner, listening to a
partner's responses to the same question, and creating a new well-developed answer. This type of
learning enables the student to process, consolidate, and retain more information.

In group-based cooperative learning, these peer groups gather together over the long term (e.g.
over the course of a year, or several years such as in high school or post-secondary studies) to
develop and contribute to one another's knowledge mastery on a topic by regularly discussing
material, encouraging one another, and supporting the academic and personal success of group
members.

Base group learning (e.g., a long-term study group) is effective for learning complex subject
matter over the course or semester and establishes caring, supportive peer relationships, which in
turn motivates and strengthens the student's commitment to the group's education while
increasing self-esteem and self-worth. Base group approaches also make the students
accountable to educating their peer group in the event that a member was absent for a lesson.
This is effective both for individual learning, as well as social support.

Implementation of Cooperative Learning

There are three phases of the implementation of cooperative learning.

i. The first phase is the pre-implementation phase, which includes: specifying instructional
objectives, determining group sizes and assigning students to groups, arranging room,
planning instructional materials to promote interdependence, assigning group roles,
assigning tasks, explaining the criteria for success, structuring positive interdependence
and accountability, and specifying desired behaviors.
ii. The second phase is implementation which includes: monitoring behavior, intervening if
needed, assisting with needs, and praise.
iii. The third phase is post-implementation which includes: providing closure through
summarization, evaluating students’ learning, and reflecting on what happened.

Pre-Implementation
After deciding to implement cooperative learning, the biggest challenge will be planning and
readying the classroom and students for CL. According to Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (1991),
there are several tasks that an instructor must accomplish before implementing cooperative
learning in the classroom. This section will detail those responsibilities.
Specify Instructional Objectives (academic and social) of CL– The instructor must
explain why she is using CL, describe its benefits, and the results typically found from using CL.
To aid in this explanation, the instructor might produce and distribute a handout that describes
collaborative learning.

Determine Group Size and Assign Students to Groups– Group size can range from two
to four students, depending on the CL task. These groups can be homogeneous or heterogeneous.
Groups can be formed by putting students together who share common strengths, interests, etc,
or they can be randomly assigned. Once the groups are assigned, though, they should not be
changed too often; students need time to develop a cohesive group and work together for a while
before moving to a different group.

Arrange room– Instructors should optimize the space in their classroom so that
students/groups can interact and move about the room easily. It is essential that a group’s seats
face one another. Further, research tools should be made easily available either in the classroom
or in another room near the classroom.

Plan instructional materials to promote interdependence– The instructional methods

and materials that an instructor chooses must allow each individual to contribute to the group’s
success in a unique and meaningful way. Without these unique contributions, a group’s structure
and cohesion will be put in jeopardy.

Assign group roles– There is some debate about whether or not the instructor should play a
role in this decision. Whether or not an instructor chooses to assign roles within a group, they
should make sure there is a distinct role for each student. Also, the instructor should choose or
assist the students in choosing roles that use their strengths and improve their areas of weakness.
Instructors should also oversee that students don’t choose the same role over and over again.
Some of the roles that could be chosen or assigned include facilitator, timekeeper, recorder,
checker (for understanding), summarizer, elaborator (on prior knowledge or discussion points),
research-runner (gets materials), and wild card (does anything else that needs to be done).

Assign task– When picking an assessment task (product to be produced), the instructor should
choose one standard to address and match it to the learning approach. The cooperative learning
group’s task should be interesting, challenging, and motivating. It should also be a performance
driven and authentic task. The instructor should clearly explain procedures for the task, provide
structure (especially useful for inexperienced CL students), and set a specific time frame for each
part and the whole task. Finally, the instructor should question the students to check for
understanding of the task and its procedures.

Explain Criteria for Success– The instructor should communicate the group-work skills that
will be evaluated. A rubric should also be created, possibly with the students’ assistance, which
will be used to evaluate the group-work skills as well as the assessment task.
Structure positive interdependence and accountability– Group size should be kept small so that
each member participates and contributes uniquely to the group. Instructors should also “test”
groups and individuals by asking questions of both. A group should be asked to collectively
explain its results and individuals should be able to defend their own position as well as the
groups as a whole.

Specify desired behaviors– An essential part of cooperative learning’s success is teaching

students how to work in a group. To accomplish this, the instructor can conduct mini-lessons on
ways to respect others (i.e. praise, taking turns, and shared decision making). Students also need
to be trained in conflict-resolution. Finally, it would be wise to use icebreaker activities before
beginning so that students find that they have something in common.

Before the actual implementation of cooperative learning, students also have several tasks. First,
they can help the instructor generate an evaluation rubric, and they could possibly help design
the assessment task if the instructor is willing to let the students participate in this capacity. By
playing a part in the production of these items, students will have a greater motivation to
participate in the group work (see Six C’s of Motivation chapter about choice and control as
methods to increase motivation).

Finally, the students’ most important role at this point in CL is to question the instructor if
anything is unclear to them. Without students’ complete understanding of the goals, objectives,
and procedures, cooperative learning will not be a success.

As illustrated in the scenario at the beginning of the chapter, the students in Mrs. Solomon’s
classroom are very diverse and appear not to get along. Before implementing CL, it will be
vitally important that Mrs. Solomon spend some time teaching respect, conflict-resolution, and
other group work skills. It is probably a good idea to use some icebreaker activities so that the
students learn that they have some commonalities with other class members.

In addition, because of the tension among them, Mrs. Solomon will want to assign students to
cooperative learning groups; she may even want to assign each individual their role. As Mrs.
Solomon designs and assigns the task to the students, it will be imperative that she chooses a
structured, authentic assignment. This will assist the students in remaining on-task, and it will
help with transferring their knowledge to real-world applications.

Implementation
After all the preparations, it is time to begin working. During the implementation phase of
cooperative learning, the students play the most important role. Some of their tasks at this stage
include:
  Working together
 Listening to one another
 Questioning one another
 Keeping records of their work and progress
 Producing the assessment task (product)
 Assuming personal responsibility/ being involved in the group

The instructor also has responsibilities during this stage as well. Johnson, Johnson, and Smith
(1991) list several roles that an instructor has during the implementation of cooperative learning.

Monitor behavior– During the implementation of cooperative learning, the instructor should
circulate throughout the classroom, visiting each group.

Intervene if needed– While circulating, if the instructor notices any group conflict or off-task
behavior, she should intervene. Small-group conflict should be resolved as soon as possible, and
students should be shown how to prevent problems in the future. The instructor might use a
conflict resolution checklist to resolve the group’s conflict. This checklist includes items such as
explaining the importance of listening to everyone in the group, defining responsibilities, valuing
each person’s gifts, modeling excellence, and promoting humor. Having these listed on a
handout for each group could prevent group discord and off-task behavior.

Assist with needs– While monitoring the groups’ work, the instructor should assist groups
with their needs. This might involve pointing out additional resources and/or points-of-view, and
it also includes helping the students reflect on the work they have completed and their progress.

Praise– Students need to know if they are completing the assignment in a satisfactory manner,
especially if they are inexperienced at working in cooperative groups. For this reason, the
instructor should let individual students and groups know when they do something right or well.

As the class begins to work on their CL assignment, Mrs. Solomon will need to circulate around
the room. It is likely, especially at the beginning of implementation, that her class will still have
difficulty focusing on the task and getting along with one another. By moving around the class
while the students are working, she will be able to assist any group that is facing these problems,
and she can help them resolve the issues. At the same time, Mrs. Solomon must remember to
praise the students and teams who are making an effort to cooperate and who are progressing
nicely with the group assignment.

Post Implementation
After many hours are spent planning for cooperative learning groups, the plan is then put into
action. Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (1991) give three jobs for the instructor to complete after
the students have worked together to complete and submit the task.
Provide closure through summarization– The instructor should reconvene the entire group
of students. At this point, the instructor can summarize the important points of the lesson/unit.
Another suggestion is to have each group summarize their work and points that they think were
important. This helps the instructor to know exactly in which knowledge level the groups are
working. This is also very much in line with the idea of articulation and reflection in the
Cognitive Apprenticeships chapter.

Evaluate students’ learning– The instructor should use a rubric to grade/ evaluate each
group’s assessment task. They should also be evaluated on their group work using a rubric.
These rubrics should have been created during the pre-implementation phase of cooperative
learning, and the students might have had input into their content. After the instructor has
completed the evaluations, it is important that they provide feedback to the students about their
product and their group performance. Without this information, the students will not be able to
improve their cooperative learning skills.

Reflect on what happened– Instructors should keep a record of what worked and why it
worked each time they undertake a CL lesson or unit. This information can and should be shared
with their cooperative learning support group. The instructor should also adjust their lessons
based on the reflection and feedback of the students. This will prevent the stagnation of a CL
unit; it will grow and change with each group of students.

After completing the group work and assessment task, the student’s job is to reflect on the work
that was accomplished in their group. What worked and what did not work? What would they
change or keep next time they work together? The students should also give feedback to their
instructor. They should be able to tell the instructor what worked or what was good about this
unit, and they should point out what did not work well. This information can be written down or
informally discussed in class.

Collaborative vs. Cooperative Learning

Collaborative and cooperative learning are so closely related that the two terms are often used
interchangeably. However, let’s take a moment to address the similarities and differences in the
two. Both learning theories assign specific tasks, both use groups, and both require the students
to share and compare their findings. In both cases, discovery approaches are used to teach
interpersonal skills and student talks are stressed as a means for working things out.

Collaborative learning has British roots and is based on the findings of English instructors who
explored ways to help students take a more active role in their learning. It is a teaching
methodology in which “student’s team together to explore a significant question or a meaningful
project”.
Cooperative learning, which will be the focus of this chapter, was first used in America and can
be traced back to John Dewey’s philosophy of the social nature of learning. It is a “specific kind
of collaborative learning”. In this setting, not only is the group assessed as a whole, but students
are also individually accountable for their work.

A climate such as that created by cooperative learning will help Mrs. Solomon to better manage
her classroom and help to keep the students on task. By following the guidelines presented in this
chapter, Mrs. Solomon will be able to help her students use cooperative learning to acquire the
knowledge necessary to reach the objectives of the course.
 Question No. 03

How interactiveness is maintained in cooperative learning?

INTERACTIVENESS IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING

1. Pre and Post-Tests: Before the session begins, learners can be given a 3-5 question quiz
or asked to list 3-5 points they would cover in an essay particular question. If learners are
provided access to correct or sample answers, the tests can be self-scoring. These tests can help
focus learner attention on key and provide feedback to learners on whether or not they
understand the material.

2. Attention Span Breaks: After every ten to twenty minutes of your session was question
that summarizes the subtopic or foreshadows the next portion of the session Or, you could ask
learners to vote on an opinion question relevant to your topic in pairs, you might ask learners to
provide a written example appropriate to your topic collect them, and discuss a few that arc
either excellent or erroneous examples.

3. Reflecting on and Improving Note-taking, a three-session technique: Provide

a triple-spaced outline of your session as a guide for learners' note-taking. After 20 minutes, ask
learners to compare their notes with two other people in the class. Give the next 20 minutes of
the session without an outline, then ask learners to compare their notes with the same two
learners. For the next session, provide an outline for only half the session but follow the same
procedures as above, having learners compare notes twice during the session. At the beginning of
the third session, conduct a short discussion as to what Learners learned from comparing notes.
Have learners compare notes once a week thereafter. You may want to join in and take a look at
some of their notes as well.

4. Checking Learner Understanding: After 15-25 minutes of lecturing (or after a page
or two of an online, textual session) ask learners to respond to one or two questions. Vary the
questions, sometimes asking questions that check comprehension or summarize main points,
other times asking learners to apply, analyze, or evaluate conceptual material.

5. Think-Pair-Share: This is a cooperative learning technique that can has dramatic results.
After a bit of lecturing, ask a multiple-choice question that is fact-based or checks learner
comprehension. After counting the vote to each choice, ask learners to pair-up and explain their
answers, and then take the vote again. Almost inevitably the number of votes for the right
answers increases dramatically.

Here are a few strategies that I use in my classes:

Students seated in groups. Class set up with desks in groups on 4. This makes starting any
cooperative learning activity easy because students are already in groups.

Often have a set of primary and secondary sources for them to analyze. Drop off one packet at
each set of desks as given instructions. Then students work in their groups to analyze the
resources.

Usually change up the groups/seating quarterly or more often depending on how things are
going. That allows students to work more closely with other students in the class.

Station Activities: Sometimes an activity works better if students are moving around the
room. For these lessons, place students into different groups than the ones they are seated in. It
could be partners or groups of 3–4. A good way to do this is to print the activity on different
colored paper and then pass it out to everyone. Then say red is one group, blue, and green,
orange, are the next, etc.

For these lessons, I will play music as they move to the stations so they stay at each one for a set
amount of time and don’t rush to finish. It helps to have a larger classroom for these activities,
but they are often very engaging!

Partner Discussions: Often in lectures, I want students to share their thoughts, predict what
might happen next, or take a stance. Students might be hesitant to share their immediate
thoughts, so what I often do is first give everyone 30 seconds to talk about it with a “shoulder
partner” seated next to them.

Advantages of Cooperative Learning:

True "knowledge" is to be acquainted with something or someone; but this kind of knowledge is
fleeting and merely an abridged mental picture of a much more complex thing: To have a true
knowledge of someone or an idea requires "understanding" that goes beyond the breadth of a
subject, idea or person, it involves a depth of understanding that can only be acquired through an
interactive learning environment in which knowledge is not passively received but rather actively
engaged, with a strong focus on understanding the essential aspects of the thing being studied or
analyzed.
Personally, it is a boon to my understanding when problem solving is a collaborative exercise
rather than an individual and isolated one. It turns out that my personal experience is supported
by multiple studies: The various studies aim to show that collaborative problem solving is not
only a more efficient approach to solving novel problems, but is also a more effective way to
identify incorrect ways of tackling complex problems which might require methods and insights
that no one particular individual possesses. Below, I summarize the essential finding of a
particular study on collaborative learning, which I have displayed as a hyperlink at the end of
this summary.

Major finding regarding the benefits of collaborative learning:

1. The term "collaborative" is often understood more colloquially as learning in which any
individual from a group can solve the problem. But there is an "instructional" strategy
implicit in the term which makes the learning more effective and efficient.
2. "collaborative" problem solving is a construct that involves two parts:The first is
collaboration as it stands by itself, and the other is "problem solving." Many problems in
industry are too complex for any one person to "work through" themselves. The group
capacity for approaching a problem and capturing the essential elements of it is greater
than any capacity an individual has. Even if a single person can solve the problem(s)
successfully, the group capacity is significantly more effective in improving the solution.
The reason for this "improvement" is because each person brings different skills and
degrees of expertise to bear on a particular problem, and so the joint efforts of the group
are more efficient at understanding both the scope and depth of the problem at hand. The
way this occurs in practice, at least ideally, is that each person shares their strategies and
resources through a communication process which allows for the group to reach a
common objective. This idea of "collaboration" as a communication process that
enhances problem solving, making it more efficient via shared strategies and resources, is
summed up effectively by the quote below:

"Collaborative problem solving competency is the capacity of an individual to effectively engage

in a process whereby two or more agents attempt to solve a problem by sharing the
understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills and
efforts to reach that solution."
 3. It has been shown to have a positive effect on student learning when compared to
individual or competitive conditions
4. It has the potential to produce a level of engagement that other forms of learning cannot
5. Students may explain things better to another student than a teacher to a class. Students
learn how to teach one another and explain material in their own words
6. Questions are more likely to be asked and answered in a group setting
7. Positive interdependency is achieved as individuals feel that they cannot succeed unless
everyone in their group succeeds
8. Interpersonal and collaboration skills can be learned in a cooperative learning activity
9. Cooperative learning has the potential to meet more learning style needs more of the time
than individualized direct instruction
10. Sends the symbolic message that the class is egalitarian and classless
11. Higher ability students are in a position to be experts, leaders, models and teachers; lower
ability students get the benefits of having higher ability students in their group

Implementation in classroom learning:

 Divide the classroom into groups after each lecture and corresponding to a particular
handout if one is provided, and have the groups work on solving problems related to the
lectures' contents, as a way of preparing the students to more confidently and efficiently
tackle problems in the H.W. and exams that will include the contents of the handouts and
class interactions, as well as the insights that are provided in the classroom. I think that
by implementing this strategy of problem solving, the overall performance of the class
will be greatly improved.
 Inspire students to awe and wonder and program them to love learning; forgetting details
in the classroom is inevitable, but when students learn to learn, they have acquired the
tools necessary for GENUINE education which will never be forgotten because it has
been ingrained into their psyche by a pedagogy that encourages the sharing of ideas and
approaches to solutions to problems that make learning fun and exciting by student
interactions. This interaction will foment a lifelong love for learning by showing that real
problems involve multiple approaches from multiple minds, each having their own
unique contribution. When students see that there are many solutions to a problem and
that some solutions are more efficient than others, they will be encouraged to engage in
collaborative learning efforts which will increase their love for learning and problem
solving even more - Collaborative Learning is self-reinforcing.
 Question No. 04

Discuss some tips for the teacher to make presentation more

effective and attractive for the student.

An effective teacher is an excellent communicator and therefore thinks about improving his or
her presentation skills. One of the most important aspects of communicating is shaping both
content and style to fit your audience. In the classroom, if you cannot communicate in a way that
is both comprehensible and interesting to your students, their learning will be greatly reduced.

To strengthen your presentation skills, focus on improving your skills in these three areas:

 Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

 Effective Use of the Chalkboard and Visual-Aids
 Effective Design and Meaningful Organization of Content
 Links and References to Improving Presentation Style

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

 Find out all you can about the room in which you will be presenting.
Visit the room ahead of time to familiarize yourself with its size and layout, as well as the
type of chalkboards, chalk, erasers, and multimedia available. In addition, obtain any
necessary training on the multimedia.
 Use the classroom as a stage. Move around to engage and interact with your
audience. Do not stand in one spot the entire time. Move with purpose; do not walk
aimlessly.
 Prepare. Preparation is essential. All excellent teachers are well prepared for each
class. Practice in the room if you can, especially if you are new to teaching. In addition,
prepare yourself emotionally and psychologically by taking the time to organize your
thoughts and to look forward to teaching before every class.
 Speak loudly and clearly. Project your voice and face your audience when you are
speaking. Speak slightly louder than you do in a normal conversation. Use a microphone
in a medium to large classroom. The class may include students with hearing problems.
 Moreover, a microphone will help ensure that students can hear you even when you turn
to the chalkboard momentarily.
 Modulate the tone, pitch, and speed of your speech. Do not speak in a
monotone. Vary the pitch and speed of your voice for emphasis and effect. Use
appropriate pauses. Rather than using filler words such as “uh,” for example, simply
pause before moving on to the next idea or point.
 Use gestures and facial expressions to help you explain, emphasize, and
communicate the material. However, be careful not to develop distracting habits
such as pacing or repeatedly adjusting your glasses or hair. To find out if you are
unconsciously doing anything that may be distracting to your audience, have a colleague
observe one of your classes or have your class videotaped. To schedule a videotaping and
teaching consultation, call The Teaching Center at 935-6810.
 Develop a teaching persona. Decide how you want to be perceived and what
mannerisms you want to have. For example, do you want to be quiet, humorous, formal,
or informal? Whatever persona is right for you, aim to convey confidence and ease. Move
with certainty and assuredness, and be careful not to seem pompous or intimidating.
 Show passion and enthusiasm for the topic. If you are not interested in the
subject, you cannot expect your students to be interested, either. Point out the fascinating
aspects of what they are learning.
 Do not read your notes or slides. Doing so will lower your energy level and lead
your audience to feel less engaged.
 Interact with and pay attention to your audience. Make eye contact with the
students, not with the wall or chalkboard. Build a rapport with the class. Make sure the
class is with you (following and understanding what you are discussing). If they appear to
be lost, take additional time to explain points and to ask and answer questions.
 Do not take yourself too seriously. Be able to laugh at yourself and your mistakes.
Feel free to bring humor into the classroom, but direct it at yourself, rather than at your
students’ questions and ideas.
 Keep track of the time. Do not start early or end late. The students often do not
recall or listen to information presented after the class period is technically finished.

Effective Use of the Chalkboard and Visual-Aids

Using the Chalkboard
 Write legibly and big enough that your writing can seen in the back of the room.
 Think about the organization of the material on the board.
 Fill one board at a time, starting at the top of each board and writing down.
  Do not scrunch in words at the very bottom of the board or in the margins. The students
in the back will not see the words at the bottom, and no one will see the words in the
margins.
 Underline or mark major assumptions, conclusions, etc.
 Use color to emphasize points.Before the course starts, determine which colors are most
visible in the back of the room.
 Erase a board only when you have run out of room.
 If you find a mistake on a previous board, do not erase it. Cross it out, then write the
correction in, which is what the students must do.

Using Visual Aids, such as PowerPoint Slides

 Do not use visual aids unless they serve a clear and important purpose. Visuals should aid
quick comprehension and support the main points.
 Book and check out the presentation equipment in advance.
 Talk to your audience and not to the screen.
 Use the visuals to enhance your presentation, not as a substitute for a verbal presentation.
 Use a pointer, if necessary.
 Coordinate the audio and the visual.
 Design your visuals with clarity and simplicity in mind.

Effective Design and Meaningful Organization of Content

Visual Design Suggestions
 Use single words or phrases.
 Organize the content visually.
 Choose a font that is easy to see. Choose a font that is simple, plain, and easy to read such
as Times New Roman, Ariel, or Helvetica. Select a font size that is large enough to be
seen at the back of the room. The minimal acceptable size is typically 24-point. Use both
upper- and lower-case letters; all upper-case letters are difficult to read.
 Keep the design simple. Too many words, graphics, or different colors are distracting and
cause students to miss the important points.
 Use short quotes, not long extracts, from documents.
 Assign a title for each visual. Doing so will help your audience organize and retain the
information on each visual.
 Use summary lists.
 Limit the number of ideas on each visual. For example, limit the number of bullets on a
page to approximately 4 to 6. Each bullet should be short, approximately one line. Do not
crowd the visual with text; it will be too difficult to read.
  Use color for emphasis and organization. Color is useful, but needs to be used
judiciously. The color should be used for emphasis or for distinguishing among data.
Think about the color wheel: adjacent colors blend together and colors directly opposite
each other are contrasting and provide better readability. Reds and oranges stand out, but
are hard to continually focus on; therefore, use these colors only for emphasis. Greens,
blues, and browns are easier to continually focus on, but do not grab a person’s attention.
 Design diagrams and tables that are simple and clear, with readily recognized symbols.
Your audience must be able to read all data in your diagrams and tables. Often, this
means that you will have to simplify a more complex or detailed table or diagram that has
been prepared for a printed format.
 Use horizontal (landscape) layout, not vertical (portrait). Screens, video monitors, and
computer monitors are shaped for a horizontal, not a vertical, format. In addition, a
horizontal format is easier to project in rooms with low ceilings.

Content Organization Suggestions

 Plan the content. Think about the type of students in the class, the goals for the course
and the current session, the type of material to be presented in the current session, and the
type of media, if any, that you are going to use.
 Provide a structure. Each class session or presentation should have a beginning, a middle,
and an end.
 List objectives or provide an outline at the beginning of each class session. Providing an
outline helps students identify the most important points and follow the lecture or
discussion more effectively.
 Organize course content with a theme or storyline. How do you want to arrange the
material? How does each part of the material relate to what comes next.
 Remember that a typical student’s attention span is 15-20 minutes. Every 15-20 minutes,
either change your teaching method or change activities. Use different teaching methods
in one session to keep the students’ attention and to reach students who have different
learning preferences.
 Allow for pauses and “wait-time.” Wait-time is the pause after the instructor either asks a
question or asks for questions. Students need time to think of a response to a question, or
to think of a question to ask. Do not be afraid of silence. Most instructors wait 1-3
seconds for a response. However, increasing the wait-time to 5-10 seconds dramatically
increases the number and quality of responses.

Presentation Tips for Teachers

Teachers are essentially professional presenters. Talking to a group of students, parents and other
teachers is all a presentation. This means teachers give presentations constantly. These
presentation tips are geared towards this hard-working group of professionals.
Giving this many presentations can cause speakers to become burnt out. This tips will help
teachers perform better in front of their variety of audiences.

1) Give Lots of Thought to Your Visual Aids

Visual aids have a research-backed ability to decrease learning time, improve comprehension,
and increase retention. They’re critical for teachers. Don’t simply add visuals as a quick after-
thought. Be thoughtful about the ways movie clips, infographics, and even GIFs can enhance the
content. Keep in mind that entertainment value is just as important as a visual aid’s ability to
support your argument. Students who are entertained will also retain your lessons.

2) Don’t Read from the Slides

One of the biggest presentation mistakes teachers make is reading directly from the slides. Not
only is this incredibly boring for anyone to sit through (child or adult) but it’s an ineffective way
to teach. Do what you can to keep your slide content to a minimum. Let the visual do most of the
legwork rather than the text. Research shows an audience learns 79% more from textless visuals.

3) Tell a Story
Storytelling is one of many presentation tips used by speakers across all industries. Telling a
story with your content will make your lesson more compelling. It’s a whole lot easier for your
students to remember details from a story. Any set of data has a killer story to tell, it’s just a
matter of finding it. If you’re struggling to come up with narratives, then recruit a presentation
mentor to help you get the wheels turning.

4) Simplify Your Topics

It’s easy to share a ton of details about a topic that you know everything about. It’s hard for your
audience to understand it all. Edit your lessons down to one main idea per slide. Supporting
points can be broken out across additional slides. Don’t worry about high slide counts. Worry
about how easy your topic is for your audience to understand.

5) Keep telling them what they’re Learning

All of our presentation tips revolve around our method: Tell your audience what you are going to
say, say it, and then tell them what you just said. This works well on student audiences.
Introducing, delivering and reiterating a topic helps solidify it in the minds of any audience. This
effective tip is found in nearly all high-quality presentations.

6) Include Plenty of Interaction

No one wants to be talked at for any significant long time. Especially not students who are forced
to stay seated for hours at a time. Don’t speak straight through your presentation without a little
engagement. Use questions, role-playing and small group discussions to get students involved.
This will make it easier for you to hold their attention. Presentation tips on audience engagement
create excitement and interest in your deck.
7) Show Your Personality
Set aside formality in favor of a more casual approach. Conversational speech will make you an
effective teacher. Take time to get to know your students and their parents. Avoid using formal
language that will make you appear distant. Crack a bad joke or two to make you more relatable
and show some personality.
 Question No. 04

What are the meaning, purpose, and limits of using maps in

teaching as a teaching tool?

Concept Mapping
Concept mapping is a great way to build upon previous knowledge by connecting new
information back to it. This post explores the uses of concept mapping and provides tools for
creating concept maps on the computer.

If a person knew how to make a lemon meringue pie, it would be easy for him to learn how to
make a Baked Alaska. Because of the previous experience making the meringue for the pie, it
would be easy to understand how to make a Baked Alaska even though you had never made it
before. So it goes with academic learning.

When new knowledge is integrated with and connected to existing knowledge, that new
knowledge is easier to understand and to remember. A professor’s job is to build scaffolding
from existing knowledge on which to hang incoming new knowledge. Using a concept map is
one way to build that scaffolding.

A concept map is a visual organization and representation of knowledge. It shows concepts and
ideas and the relationships among them. You create a concept map by writing key words
(sometimes enclosed in shapes such as circles, boxes, triangles, etc.) and then drawing arrows
between the ideas that are related. Then you add a short explanation by the arrow to explain how
the concepts are related.
How Professors Use Concept Maps
We were studying the influence of political socialization on belief systems and I needed a way to
have students think systematically about their views and identify the sources of their values and
beliefs. I chose to use a concept map to help students explore this.
Student first identified their stance on the war in Iraq. They then brainstormed and listed factors
(attitudes, values, beliefs, etc.) that came to mind that led to their position. Students were able to
use branching to show more complex associations. After fleshing out their cognitive maps,
students identified where their attitudes, beliefs, and information came from (family, media,
teachers, peers, political party, etc.). Students found it valuable to explore their own thinking in
this way. They also found that they were able to detect assumptions in their thinking, see that
many of their views were essentially reproductions of what they heard from other sources, see
that their views were not systematically or rationally obtained, as well as assess the influence of
various socialization forces on their thinking.
Since students might not know how to create a concept map, it is beneficial to model the process
in class. Once students understand the process, you can use concept maps in the following ways:

 Use as an in-class pre-assessment. Prior to discussing a topic, ask students to

create a concept map. Then, as you discuss the information, they can add to or modify
their map to reflect their understanding about the topic.
 Do as a small group activity. Give your students a problem, case study, or question
about a key concept. Divide them into small groups of 4-5 students. Have each group
create a concept map as they analyze and synthesize previously learned information into
this new scenario. Have the groups present their conclusions.
  Do as a whole class activity. As a class, create a concept map and use it as a
springboard to discuss relationships among the concepts and ideas listed in the map.
 Fill in the blanks. Before class, create a concept map of the material you want to
cover in class. Then, remove some of the concepts and labels. Show the partially
completed map to the class and have them fill in the blank spots and label the
relationships.
 Organize your research. Use a concept map to build and organize your ideas, layer
details, and find connections and relationships that might never have occurred to you
before.

There are several benefits of using concept maps. A concept map:

 Helps visual learners grasp the material (however all learners benefit from the activity)
 Helps students see relationships between ideas, concepts, or authors
 Utilizes the full range of the left and right hemispheres of the brain
 Helps memory recall
 Helps to clarify and structure ideas
 Aids in developing higher-level thinking skills (create, analyze, evaluate)
 Helps students synthesize and integrate information, ideas and concepts
 Encourages students to think creatively about the subject
 Lets students do self-evaluation of beliefs, values, socialization, etc.
 Helps students evaluate assumptions.

The following list contains specific functions that can be performed by using concept maps.

 Analyze
 Brainstorm
 Compare and contrast
 Evaluate
 Hypothesize
 Interact
 Sequence

 Visualize

Once you have decided the type of mental function you want students to perform and the type of
visualization that will help, there are several tool options. Students can use Microsoft Word to
create their organizer by inserting shapes, smart art, and charts into a Word document. FreeMind
is a free software option. There is also many good Web tools that have been developed and most
are free. To use them, all you need is access to a browser. Here are three popular ones:

 Bubbl.us: is a simple, and easy to use mind mapping tool

  Gliffy: has more complex shapes and tools, can export as a jpg, and provides a URL to a
read-only version of the map
 Mind42: is more robust, can export a map as PDF or jpg, can add attachments, URL
links, or notes to nodes, has good collaboration tools (e.g. connections to Skype or
Google Talk accounts)

Teaching Tip: Maps as Teaching and Productivity Tools

Though I have never considered myself particularly oriented toward visuals, in recent years I
have come to appreciate the value of mapping from both a teaching, learning, and productivity
perspective. If you haven’t explored how mapping might help enhance your work, I would
encourage you to take a closer look at concept and mind maps. Both are visual representations of
knowledge and ideas.

Concept maps are traditionally more structured and hierarchical in terms of organization, with
the most general concept at the top and the more specific concepts at the bottom (Nilson, 2010).
The links between the concepts should also be meaningfully labeled. Here is a sample concept
map on concept maps. “Using Concept Maps?” from the Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon also
gives good instructions on how to create and assess concept maps.Mind maps are less structured,
but generally have the main idea at the center of the image, with themes radiating from this
central idea (mindmapping.com, 2016). Mind maps can also include media, such as images or
videos, in addition to text. Here is a sample mind map of guidelines for mind mapping.Ways you
might use concept or mind maps include: • As a teaching tool: consider creating a map as a way
to help students understand the structure of the day’s topic or even an entire course. On the first
day of class, I show students a concept map I have drawn of the course and then use that map to
explain the course structure and syllabus.

 As a learning tool: have students refine or demonstrate their learning by creating their
own maps around a given topic or the course. Note: because students can be
uncomfortable with ambiguity (there’s no one “right” map), this might require a good
amount of coaching and guidance from you. See how this teacher uses mapping to
generate student discussions and assess learning.
 As an assessment tool: maps can be a great way for students to demonstrate their learning
in the course. Just be sure to give students clear guidelines for developing their maps (and
lots of practice creating maps beforehand) and consider creating a rubric.
 As a course design tool: if you’re designing a new course (or doing a major revision of a
current course), consider first creating a map to help you generate your learning outcomes
and key content areas.
 As a writing tool: Mapping can also be a great way to organize your ideas for a paper.
  As a notetaking tool: Recently, mapping and sketchnoting have become popular methods
for taking notes at conferences. I now take notes at conferences this way and have also
extended this practice to creating sketchnotes for books while I am reading them.

Maps are wonderful tools for brainstorming, providing a “big picture” overview of ideas, or
representing a large amount of information in a small space. They’re great tools to consider
adding to your teaching and productivity “toolbox.”