ABSTRACT
OVERVIEW OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING Cooperative learning refers to instructional methods in which teachers organize students into small groups, which then work together to help one another learn academic content. Cooperative learning methods are extensively researched and under certain well-specified conditions, they are known to substantially improve student achievement in most subjects and grade levels, yet the structured forms of cooperative learning that have proven to be effective are not used as often as more informal forms. Further, there remains considerable debate about the theoretical basis for achievement outcomes of cooperative learning. This chapter reviews and integrates evidence on the theoretical mechanisms relating to learning outcomes of cooperative learning, and presents evidence on the most widely used practical applications of cooperative methods.
