Why Does Cooperative Learning Work?
- student - student interactions
- student - faculty interactions
Pascarella and Terenzini's summary of twenty years of research on the impact college has on student development supports the importance of this engagement. Cooperative learning is a way to facilitate student-student, student-faculty interactions efficiently and systematically.
Cooperative learning exercises enhance important skills including (Barkley, Cross and Major, 2005):
- using the language of the discipline
- explaining, providing feedback, understanding alternative perspectives
- discovering patterns and relationships
- organizing and synthesizing information
- developing strategies and analysis