Cooperative Learning Advantages and Disadvantages

Cooperative Learning

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning

Through the years, the educational system has developed innovations and teaching models that aimed to develop holistic learning among students. As changes in educational philosophy took place in the 21st century, particularly after the proliferation of critical theories of education, learning models have been developed as a response to these critical theories.

Among these critical theories are Paulo Freire's 'banking concept of education,' wherein learning is merely transmitted from teacher to student, when learning should be experiential and the student must be able to understand information s/he receives from the teacher from its social context or environment. Thus, as a response to the critical assessment of teaching and learning, cooperative learning aims to let the student experience learning not only with the teacher, but with other students as well.

Defined as an "instructional method in which students work in small groups to accomplish a common learning goal under the guidance of the teacher," cooperative learning has been applied to educational institutions for its advantages, such as increased interaction among students, collaborative learning, and development of students' interpersonal and group skills as they accomplish a particular task or activity (Lin, 2006:34-5). In the texts that follow, the researcher provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of the advantages and disadvantages that cooperative learning has with regards to student learning and as a teaching method.

One of the distinct characteristics of cooperative learning is that it promotes shared responsibility as the sharing of ideas begins in the learning process. In Lin's (2006) analysis of cooperative learning in the science classroom setting, shared responsibility through sharing of ideas are promoted the concept of "rewarding positive interdependence and individual accountability" (38). This concept illustrates how, despite working in a group, each student working collaboratively with a team of students learns how to be dependent with other people while at the same, inculcate the attitude of independence in learning. The individual, through dependence with his/her team, learns how to share responsibility when accomplishing a task or activity. However, cooperative learning also promotes independence because the student, as a member of the group, must assume a role or position wherein s/he must be able to accomplish so that the group will be successful with the task they are working on.

A second advantage of cooperative learning is that it develops the individual's communication skills at all levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group communication). Bandiera (2006) noted in her study of cooperative learning in the classroom that students become more articulate of their learning in the classroom when cooperative learning was applied. That is, students showed "greater involvement...were demonstrated by students in discussions..." (132). In fact, the author noted that students' participation and involvement were overwhelmingly positive that, and ultimately led to a "positive evaluation of the teaching activity." More importantly, however, is that this finding shows teachers and education practitioners that communication and articulation of thoughts is developed and enhanced as students are engaged in a highly interactive and collaborative task or activity, which is illustrative of the method of cooperative learning.

In terms of information exchange, cooperative learning induces students to become more open to ideas and other information, which also requires an open-mind and selfless regard for one's knowledge. An important insight about the increase in information exchange in cooperative learning is explicated clearly through Coke's (2005) insights about cooperative learning (395):

At its best, cooperative learning stimulates cognitive and social growth by inviting students to work in groups and as groups. By sharing their knowledge with each other in small groups working toward a common goal, students can benefit from distributed cognition, where the strengths of one student complement the needs of another, and each increases her knowledge base. They work together to construct new knowledge.

The last statement from the passage, "[t]hey work together to construct new knowledge," is one of the most important results that cooperative learning produces in student learning. The sharing of ideas in cooperative learning is not only meant to promote unity and cooperation, but more importantly, to encourage students to develop an attitude towards exploration and discovery, wherein new knowledge can be generated as a result of the shared, grouped ideas that each student has contributed to the team.

Among the last advantages of cooperative learning in the classroom is the increase in competition that every student experiences as s/he collaborates with other students/teammates in the process of accomplishing a particular task or activity. There is one caveat, however, in stating this observation about cooperative learning: increased competence is induced only in learning processes wherein information used by students are similar or identical with each other (Buchs, 2004:310-1). An increase in the competitive nature of learning using the cooperative learning technique stimulates students' greater desire to perform better, and to outdo other students in accomplishing the task at hand.

While there are advantages to cooperative learning as a teaching and learning tool, there are also disadvantages that can become impediments or hindrances to the students' further learning and the teacher's role as a moderator or to serve as the students' guide to learning.

Among the enumerated disadvantages to cooperative learning as a teaching technique is that it promotes "role-playing" among students within a team or group (Bandiera, 2006:132). This "role-playing" happens when students are assigned roles or functions that when accomplishing a task or activity. For example, one student may be assigned to do the actual activity, while another is asked to record the findings, a third student analyzes these findings, while another student evaluates and prepares the report for the team. This cooperative learning example demonstrates how one student becomes skilled in one particular activity in the said learning process, making him/her unskilled in some other part of the task or activity. Because of the specific roles students are assigned to accomplish in cooperative learning, they are not able to develop themselves in other areas wherein they have the chance to compete or be skilled at.

Apart from having defined roles in the cooperative learning task, this technique also induces students to focus only on one subject matter where cooperative learning is encouraged, oftentimes neglecting other subjects where cooperative learning is not practiced or encouraged (133).