Shared
Learning for Students
Description
Shared
learning is an alternative to competition-based models that have been
widely used in schools. Although shared learning doesn't completely
eliminate competition, it limits it to between teams or individuals
with similar levels of achievement.
The
foundation of shared learning is discussion. Through discussion, multiple
speakers offer their individual thoughts and ideas which become intertwined
and interwoven together, resulting in shared understanding. Discussion
is not an innate skill, so teachers must make the effort to teach and
model these skills.
Shared
Learning can be divided into two broad categories, Cooperative and Collaborative
Learning. Cooperative Learning is a widely used term for when students
come together to work on a shared academic goal. There are many models
that fall under the umbrella of Cooperative Learning including:
Learning
Together and Alone (Johnson & Johnson) - Four or five students
of differing abilities work together on well-chosen assignmentswith
clearly specified goals
Student
Teams-Achievement Divisions (Slavin) - Abbreviated at STAD.
1) TEACH: Teacher presents the content.
2) TEAM STUDY: Students work on a related written assignments.
3) TEST: Teacher presents individual quizzes or assessments.
4) TEAM RECOGNITION: Teacher calculates team scores based on student
improvement and recognizes achievement
Team-Assisted
Individualization (Slavin, Leavey and Madden) - Combines individualized
instruction with cooperative group work to teach mathematics
Teams-Games-Tournament
(DeVries & Edwards)- Used with STADS approach. Three studentsfrom
different STAD groups who are at similar achievement levels compete
in an academic game intended to reinforce prior learning.
Cooperative
Integrated Reading and Composition (Slavin) - STAD aimed at students
in the upper elementary school grades. Students work in groups of
four and participate in various literacy activities including reading
to one another, writing about their readings, and sharing drafts.
Jigsaw
(Aronson) - Useful for older students and for a variety of content
areas.The teacher picks a topic or theme, and divide it into approximately
six subtopics. The class is then divided into teams of six students,
and each team member selects one of the subtopics to research independently.
The students, researching the same subtopic get together and share
the results of their independent research. Then, they return to their
base group and serve as the “expert” on that subtopic.
Group
Investigation (Sharan) - Similar to Jigsaw, but this approach students
form their own groups of two to six, and then, with teacher guidance,
the team selects an aspect of the broader class topic they wish to
research. After completion, the group shares the results with the
whole class.
Collaborative
learning differs from cooperative learning because it's intended outcome
is a co-constructed understanding, rather than an external product that
is evaluated by others.
Reciprocal
Teachingor - A text-based instructional approach in which
groups of students work together to make sense of texts from specific
subject matter. Its unique feature is that one of the group’s
members acts as the facilitator after having received instruction
from the teacher in how to do so. The actions of the group center
on four general comprehension strategies, summarizing, questioning,
clarifying, and predicting.
Scripted
Cooperation (Dansereau, O’Donnell, and colleagues) - Students
work in pairs, with one member of the pair starting out as the recaller,
while the other taking the role of listener. The student pairs follow
a general script that directs them in the steps they should follow.
Initiallly, the students read a prescribed amount of text defined
by the teacher. Then, the recaller offers his or her summary of the
content, which the listener corrects or expands.
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