浅析Cooperative-Learning的优点和不足

[],,,:APreliminaryStudyonStrengthsandLimitationsofCooperativeLearningoZhangXiaohong(ForeignLanguagesDepartment,BeihangUniversity,Beijing,China100083)[Abstract]Asausefullearningstrategy,CooperativeLearningisnowbecomingmoreandmorepopularinChina.Butlikemanyothereducationaltheories,reasonablyCooperativeLearninghasitsstrengthsandlmiitations,accordingtooverseasre-searcherssuchasJohnson&Johnson[1][2],Radencich&McKay[3],Randall[4],andsoon.InordertomakefulluseofCoop-erativeLearningstrategyinourcurrenteducationalreform,thisarticleexploredseveralwaystobettermiplementitinourclass-roominstruction.[Keywords]strengthsandlmiitations;CooperativeLearning;China;education[]H31913[]A[]1672-8610(2007)02-0132-04CooperativeLearning,anmiportantlearningstrate-gy,waswelldevelopedinthe1960sinAmerica[2].Gen-erallyCollaborativeLearningmeansthatstudentsteamto-gethertoexploreasignificantquestionorcreateamean-ingfulprojec,tbyworkingfacetofaceinsmallgroups[5].I.StrengthsandLimitationsofCooperativeLearningReasonably,asaneducationaltheory,CooperativeLearninghasitsstrengthsandlmiitations.Ofitsmerits,somemiportantonesinclude:(1)Differentfromtraditionallearning,CooperativeLearningactivelyinvolvesstudentsinlearning[2].Insteadofjustbeingemptyvesselstobefilledin,cooperativelearnersaretosolvetheproblem(s)byworkingtogether,andarestronglyexpectedtocontributeinsmallgroups,sincetheyshareacommonfatethattheyallsinkorswmitogetherintheprocess[1].Therefore,studentsareapttotakemoreownershipoftheirmaterialandtothinkcrit-icallyabouttherelatedissueswhenworkingasateam[1].(2)CooperativeLearningcannurtureinterpersonaldevelopment[2].Cooperativelearnerswilltalktoeachother,andlearntounderstandotherteammemberswhentheyworktogetheringroupenterprise,allofwhichentailmuchinterpersonalskills.Thiscanbeespeciallyhelpfulforstudentshavingdifficultywithsocialskills.Theycanbenefitfromstructuredinteractionswithothers[2].(3)CooperativeLearningpromisesmoreopportun-itiesforpersonalfeedback[6].Withmoreexchangesa-mongcooperativelearners,theywillreceivemoreperson-alfeedbackabouttheirideasandresponses.Suchfeed-backisoftennotpossibleinlarge-groupinstruction,inwhichoneortwostudentsexchangeideasandtherestlis-ten[2].(4)Diversityandindividualdifferencesareacknow-ledgedandcelebratedinCooperativeLearning.AccordingtoGardner(1991)[7],everyindividualhashisstrengthsandweaknesses,andthusmeritsrespectfromothers.InCooperativeLearning,duringsmal-lgroupinteractionslearnerswillfindmanyopportunitiestoreflectonandre-plytothediverseresponsesthatteammembersbringtothequestionsraised.Also,teammemberscanaddtheirperspectivestoanissuebasedontheirownculturalback-ground,whichinevitablyaidlearnerstobetterunderstandotherculturesandviewpoints[2].Eachofthesecanhelpthegroupcreateaproductthatreflectsawiderangeof132LANGUAGETEACHINGZhangXiaohong/APrelmiinaryStudyonStrengthsandLmiitationsofCooperativeLearningperspectivesandisthusmorecompleteandcomprehen-sive[8].CooperativeLearningtrulybearsmanymerits,butitdoesnÄtfollowthatweshouldoverlookitsdrawbacks.GenerallysomecommonlyrecognizedweaknessesofCo-operativeLearningare:(1)MakingmembersofthegroupresponsibleforeachotherÄslearningcanplacetoogreataburdenonsomelearners.Inmixed-abilitygroups,theresultisoftenthatstrongerstudentsaretoteachweakerstudentsanddomostofthework[4].(2)CooperativeLearningusuallyencourageslower-levelthinkingandignoresthestrategiesnecessaryfortheinclusionofcriticalorhigher-levelthough.tInsmallgroups,thereissometmiesonlyenoughtmietofocusonthetaskatitsmostbasiclevel[4].(3)PeopleareliabletooveruseCooperativeLearn-ingstrategies,whicharetothedetrmientofstudentswhobenefitmorefromlearningalone[3].Inreality,notalllearnersorlearningcontextsaresuitableforCooperativeLearning.(4)CooperativeLearningsometmieshasvagueob-jectivesandpoorexpectationsforaccountability[4],es-peciallywhenboththeteacherandthestudentsinvolvedlacknecessaryexperienceofCooperativeLearning.II.HowtobetterimplementCooperativeLearningInordertomakefulluseofCooperativeLearning,itisquitenecessarytodelicatelydealwiththefollowingis-sues:strongerlearnersVs.weakerlearnersIftheworkisnotwelldividedandappropriatelyas-signedamongthegroupmembers,somegroupmembersmayavoidtheirresponsibility,leavingtoomuchburdentothestrongerstudent(s).Inthiscase,theconsequencemightbe:thestrongerstudent(s)becomemorecapableorstrongerbytakingmorechanceorresponsibilityintheteamworking;ontheotherhand,theweakerstudent(s),byavoidingthework,willbecomelesscapableorweakerthanbefore,becauseoflackingchanceorpressuretogettheabilityenhanced[4].Toremedythissituation,itisnecessarytoassigntheworkspecifically(ifnotequally),tomakecertainthateachgroupmemberhasanappropriateamountoftheassignmentwork,andwillthusbemarkedindividuallyaccordingtotheirspecificcontribution.Bythismeanslearnersaremorelikelytoparticipateincooperativelearningactivelyandhencebenefitmorefromthecooper-ativelearning[2].efficiencyVs.effectCooperativeLearningisaneffectivewayoflearning,sinceitcaninvolvestudentsmoreactivelyinlearningandfosterrealproblemsolvingability[9].Bycommunicatingwithothergro