cooperative learning

For almost a century researchers have been studying the benefits of cooperative learning, where students must work together to achieve goals. Much of the research indicates that students in cooperative learning environments show higher levels of reasoning, more effective problem solving, and higher self-esteem. The number of teachers who use cooperative learning models in their classes has been on the rise for decades, but most classrooms are still frenetically competitive environments.

I've been most impressed by the work of David and Roger Johnson at the University of Minnesota, who have been studying and teaching cooperative learning techniques since the 1970's and founded the Cooperative Learning Center. According to them, one of the key elements in cooperative learning is called positive interdependence -- students are interlinked in such a way that one cannot succeed unless everyone succeeds.

In one particularly convincing study, the Johnson's did a meta-analysis reviewing all available studies from 1924 to 1980. Sixty-five of the studies found that children learn better when they work cooperatively as opposed to competitively, eight found the reverse, and 36 found no significant difference.