3. Concept of Jigsaw Technique
Wendy Jolliffe in her book, “Cooperative Learning in the Classroom”, defines Jigsaw technique as a technique in which students are distributed into
groups and each member of a group learns an essential part of a whole of a topic by working with a focus group and then helps the home group to combine the
knowledge to complete the task.
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In Spencer Kagan and Miguel Kagan’s Cooperative Learning, they divide classic cooperative learning method into four types: Jigsaw Designs, Cooperative
Investigations, Mastery Designs, and Learning Together. The first Jigsaw concept was applied by Eliot Aaronson and his associates at the national training labs as
teambuilding activities.
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Essentially, Jigsaw technique is a cooperative learning lesson design that takes the place the place of a lecture. Jigsaw technique is a cooperative learning
technique that requires everyone’s cooperative effort to produce the final product. Just as in a jigsaw puzzle, each piece-each student’s part- is essential for the
production and full understanding of the final product. If each student’s part is essential, then each student is essential. Teacher is not the sole provider of
knowledge because most of the work is done by the students themselves which makes it an efficient way to learn.
There are a lot of variations in the design of Jigsaw technique. One of these variations that the writer tries to use in this research is Within-Team Jigsaw
that was developed by Spencer Kagan and his associates. Unlike the variation of Jigsaw that was developed by Elliott Aaronson and his associates, this variation of
Jigsaw works with existing curriculum. The concept of extrinsic rewards or points as proposed by Jigsaw II is also not included in this variation of Jigsaw. To create
positive interdependence, Kagan Jigsaw relies on highly structuring interaction among students and intrinsically interesting learning tasks.
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Wendy Jolliffe, Cooperative Learning in the Classroom, London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007, p. 48.
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Spencer Kagan and Miguel Kagan, Kagan Cooperative Learning, San Clemente: Kagan Publishing, 2009, p. 17.2.
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ibid., p. 17.3.
In Within-Team Jigsaw, each student on the team is given a balanced different section of the text to be read and analyze. Later, as an expert the student
explains what heshe have learned to the other team member while the other team member take notes on the material that the expert explain.
Based on the explanation above, it can be synthesized that Within-Team Jigsaw is one of Jigsaw variations that developed by Kagan that does not
reconstruct the curriculum and also does not include extrinsic rewards or points. This variation require student to master their part individually by reading and
analyzing their part and later explain to the other team member.
4. Principles of Jigsaw
In applying Jigsaw group work in the classroom, most researchers agree that to be truly cooperative, learning should consist of key elements, which are:
a. Positive interdependence. This requires each pupil in a small group to contribute to the learning of the group. Pupils are required to work in a way so
that each group member needs the others to complete the task. It is a feeling of ‘one for all and all for one’.
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b. Individual accountability. This means that each member of the group is accountable for completing his or her part of the work. It is important that no
one can ‘hitchhike’ on the work of others. It requires each pupil in the group to develop a sense of personal responsibility to learn and to help the rest of the
group to learn also.
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c. Small Heterogeneous Group. Group needs to be small in order to provide maximum opportunities for oral interaction. The group also should be
organized into heterogeneous group for optimum learning. d. Purposeful talk. Students need opportunities to explore, practice, and
understand ideas through oral interaction. Oral interaction will help students to get and understand other members’ ideas.
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Jolliffe, op.cit., p. 3.
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ibid.
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