Starting
off the school year with a fresh perspective can go a long way to ensuring that
students do not feel the grind of the same old routines day in and day
out. Though not a new classroom learning
strategy by any means, with a new school year underway, cooperative learning
methods warrant a fresh look as a means to engage all learners across varying
skill levels.
Known
by several names, cooperative learning can encompass a variety of terms such as
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (RPT), Peer
Teaching, or any other method in which students engage in assisting their peers
in a learning environment. Classroom
teachers as well as tutoring centers may employ these types of methods in order
to ensure equitable learning, while at the same time creating a dynamic learning
environment. Students remain engaged in
the process of their own learning as an added benefit. Here are some practical ways cooperative
learning can be used to help students improve, review and master important
skill sets.
Built-In Role-Playing
After
introducing a new concept in a teacher-directed mini lesson, the teacher can
pair up students (typically one higher-achieving student with a lower-achieving
one, or two similar skill levels together) to begin the process of peer tutoring. Typically, the student playing the role of
tutor will create a scenario, problem or question that the other student must
then attempt to work through or solve, while the actual classroom teacher moves
around the room as a facilitator. This
can free up the teacher to hone in on which students or student pairs need the
most assistance at a given time. After a
pre-determined length of time, the two students switch roles and the process
begins again.
Numerous
data-driven studies have shown that the process of reciprocal tutoring amongst
peers creates a safe zone for a student to ask a question, clear up a
misunderstanding and even allow students to progress at a quicker pace. What’s more, these peer-tutoring sessions
have resulted in raised self-esteem, as the role reversals have students
playing up their strengths and learning from their more confident counterparts.
This
type of learning method also ties in well with our province’s overarching
spirit of inclusion in education, sports and cultural events. Across various school subjects, students
begin to see their peers in new ways and new roles. Consider the following
example;
Matthew and Brian, both 5th
grade students in the same class, have been paired together for a
peer-tutoring session to practice and review finding equivalent
fractions. Matthew, who does well in
Math, enjoys his turn at being the tutor.
Brian struggles with Math but does well with subjects like English
or social studies where there is a lot of reading. Brian doesn’t mind being tutored by
Matthew because if he doesn’t understand something, he only has to ask
Matthew to re-explain, rather than ask a question to the teacher in front of
the whole class, which makes him feel nervous and embarrassed because
everyone is listening. Matthew is patient with Brian when he needs more
time to solve a question, but Matthew sometimes wishes all the students
were as quick as he is in Math! For a few weeks now, their teacher has been
using peer-tutoring sessions every Wednesday and Friday during Math
class.
This week, their teacher decided to
incorporate peer-tutoring into the social studies class as well. Brian was very motivated to explain and summarize
key concepts to Matthew, which Matthew was struggling to recall. Matthew began to see that Brian, who
sometimes needs a lot of help with Math, is really strong in social studies
and can easily remember names of places, dates and ideas their teacher has
talked about.
In
the above example, students are given an opportunity to show peers their
strengths in another subject matter, as opposed to only their weaknesses in
strategic pairing.
‘Teach the Teacher’ Days
Finding
fresh ways to help students study key concepts before an exam or evaluation can
be a challenge, but in utilizing previously scheduled peer-tutoring sessions,
this can be a pleasurable and welcome change for both the teacher and students.
In
addition to peer-tutoring sessions for review and practice, these blocks of
time can also be used for preparing students to ‘teach the teacher’. In this exercise, the teacher puts the name
of a concept on a cue card, and individual students pick a concept card out of
a hat, which then becomes their topic to teach back to the teacher. Students can prepare their mini lesson as
part of an oral presentation for the whole class, or as a one-on-one
presentation with the teacher. By having
to prepare a lesson on a particular topic or skill set, students are given a
unique opportunity to study and review, and the teacher can conveniently assess
whether the student has a solid mastery of the given topic or skill. What’s more, this exercise can be
accomplished by a student as a solo assignment or as a partnered assignment
with strategic pairing of students.
What the Research Says
Countless
studies have been conducted over recent decades demonstrating the numerous
advantages to reciprocal or peer tutoring.
It is important to note that this learning strategy is meant to
compliment, not replace, professional teaching in a learning environment,
whether that be in the school classroom or in the context of a lesson taking
place at reputed tutoring center. Benefits
to this strategy include, but are not limited to;
- Giving weaker students the opportunity to receive clarification in a nonthreatening environment
- Allowing all students to improve and reinforce their skill sets when it’s their turn to play the role of tutor
- Providing gifted students with the opportunity to be challenged in a new way
- The potential to increase academic engagement across various skill levels and school subjects
- Allowing students to practice their social skills with peers in a natural setting, encouraging positive social interaction
- Proving opportunity for better inclusion in and outside of the classroom
There is no one-size fits all method, but cooperative learning can be adapted to suit the needs of any type of learner, making it a useful tool in any teacher’s proverbial tool kit.