Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning represents an effective teaching technique whereby small teams, consisting of learners with diverse levels of ability, employ various learning skills to enhance their comprehension of a topic (Gillies, 2016). The objective of cooperative learning at the graduate level is to make every learner a stronger person in their right. Since the learning process consists of individuals of different capabilities put together in groups, it enables learners to share information in the areas that they are strong at. Every person has a particular topic or field of study that they are strong at. When these individuals are brought together in one group, it becomes possible for them to share ideas in the areas that they feel they are good (Rogers, 2017). These ideas play a vital role in enhancing the other members of the group who do not know much about the topic. The other members also have areas that they are strong at and usually share this knowledge with the rest of the group. This circulation of ideas among the group members empowers each, and every individual involved making them more knowledgeable than before. Therefore, cooperative learning enables students to learn together so that they afterward enhance their performance as individuals.
As an online student, I can state that I have experienced various positives and negatives of participating in group assignments. The first positive of participating in group assignments as an online student is that there is more flexibility than traditional groups where people have to meet face to face (Panigrahi, Srivastava, & Sharma, 2018). For instance, as an online student, I can spare enough time to do other activities such as going to the workplace, performing house chores, watching television, and so on because I do not need a lot of time to travel to the meeting location like in the case of traditional groups. All I need to do is to log-in my computer and start holding group discussions with my peers. Another advantage is that it saves costs compared to traditional groups (Panigrahi, Srivastava, & Sharma, 2018). All I require is an internet connection and a laptop, and then I am good to go. This is contrary to physical group meetings, whereby one has to use bus fare or fuel their cars before going to the desired location for discussion.
Nonetheless, I have also experienced various negatives of online learning during our handling of group assignments. For instance, online discussions are less quality than those held in one-on-one meetings (Dumford & Miller, 2018). Most of the assignment questions are not given an in-depth focus since individuals are unwilling to spend much time solving a problem like in the case of one-on-one meetings. This is mostly because some people use internet bundles, which could be depleted before we finish our assignment. Secondly, there is little, or no one-on-one interaction on online groups works as opposed to the traditional face-to-face groups (Dumford & Miller, 2018). I can see your peers, but knowing that they are far, makes me dissatisfied with the kind of interaction that I receive from them since it is not similar to that I would experience in face-to-face meetings.
References
Dumford, A. D., & Miller, A. L. (2018). Online learning in higher education: Exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30(3), 452-465. doi:10.1007/s12528-018-9179-z
Gillies, R. (2016). Cooperative learning: Review of research and practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3), 39-54. doi:10.14221/ajte.2016v41n3.3
Panigrahi, R., Srivastava, P. R., & Sharma, D. (2018). Online learning: Adoption, continuance, and learning outcome—A review of literature. International Journal of Information Management, 43, 1-14. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.05.005
Rogers, K. A. (2017). Impact of a sustained cooperative learning intervention on student motivation. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 88(6), 62-62. doi:10.1080/07303084.2017.1331667