Group, Collaborative and Cooperative

I have found it difficult to make the distinctions between group, collaborative and cooperative, so I found it easier to highlight the elements of each.

Group work needs to be carefully planned. During group work, the teacher needs to circulate and intervene where necessary. Without structuring the group work, students may find it frustrating, with an uneven workload being completed by members of the group. This process can be enhanced by group reflection at the end of the task, about how they worked together, what worked and what didn’t, along with what they would do differently next time.

Collaborative learning is more open-ended and requires exploration. It is a student-focussed space that allows students to interact; forming, refining and reformulating their ideas based on others perspectives. Collaborative learning is more focused on the social dynamics rather than the specific content.

Cooperative learning is carefully structured. This space requires group goals, yet individual accountability, each student having their own responsibility and role within the group. Students are assessed on their individual contributions and there needs to be equal opportunities for success, along with team rewards.

The nuances between group, collaborative and cooperative are subtle but interesting. It is interesting the way in which each can stand alone, but they can also be interrelated, you can have one without the other, or they could occur hand-in-hand. Group, collaborative and cooperative all work on the social and interpersonal skills of the students. I believe the cooperative and collaborative would provide the richest learning, with shared ideas and perspectives (forming, refining and reformulating their understandings), opportunities for students to interact and share their findings.

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