| Co-op Co-op Co-op Co-op is a form of cooperative learning which allows students' natural curiosity and intelligence to emerge. Co-op Co-op is very student centered with nothing more than teacher guidance. Students have a much bigger say in what they learn, and how they learn it. The beginning of a unit is highlighted by a student led classroom discussion in which students express their interests within the unit, and what it is that they would like to learn more about. The largest aspect of Co-op Co-op is the learning teams. In other cooperative learning strategies, the teacher chooses the teams based on abilities and other factors. Co-op Co-op suggests that the teams be decided in a more democratic fashion. The students should be allowed to choose their own teams, but it is important that they do so based on common interests, rather than friendships or popularity. Once teams have been established, and topics of interest have been discussed, it is then the teacher's job to ensure that each team has selected a different topic to study. The remainder of the team work is very similar to Jigsaw II. After the team has a topic, the team will then assign mini-topics to smaller groups within the team. These smaller groups will investigate their mini-topics and report back to the entire team. They will be responsible for teaching the mini-topic to the rest of their team members. The remainder of the team work process involves a team presentation. Teams must present their topic to the rest of the class. This forces team members to cooperate and work together to accomplish a goal. Teams should be encouraged to use a variety of methods to present their topic to the whole class. Such methods could be games, debates, or computer presentations. The presenting team will be responsible for everything in the classroom while they are giving their presentation. Evaluation in Co-op Co-op is much less defined than in Jigsaw or STAD. The teacher may evaluate the students or teams at his/her own discretion. Perhaps the teacher will feel some days that no evaluation is needed, and other days that the students should be quizzed or tested. It gives the teacher a lot of freedom. Also, it is suggested that the teams be asked to evaluate themselves. It has been found that when students are asked to evaluate themselves, they are usually very honest about how well they did. |