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1 Raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or
academically handicapped. 2
Help the teacher build positive relationship among students. 3
Give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological and cognitive development.
4 Replace the cognitive organizational structure of most classroom and
schools with a team-based, high-performance organizational structure. Johnson et al. 1994 mention three types of cooperative learning. The
types are as followed: 1
Formal cooperative learning groups These groups last from one class period to several weeks. These are used
for a specific task and involve students working together to achieve shared learning goals Johnson et al., 1994.
2 Informal coperative learning groups
These groups last from a few minutes to a class period and are used to focus student attention or to facilitate learning activities Johnson et al., 1994.
3 Cooperative base groups
Groups are long term group. They last for at least a year and consist of heterogeneous learning groups with stable membership. The primary purpose is to
allow the students to give each other support, help, assistant and encouragement to succeed academically Johnson et al., 1994.
Gaies 1985 states that all interaction requires a minimum of two participants; the amount of participation differs greatly for the teachers and
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learners. In general, groups of four or five members work best. Larger groups
decrease each members opportunity to participate actively. The less skillful the group members, the smaller the groups should be. The shorter amount of time
available, the smaller the groups should be Cooper, 1990; Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1991; Smith, 1986. From the explanation above, it could be inferred that
groupwork is a well-planned interaction between at least four or five participants with the understanding of certain principles that could support the success of the
group.
c. The Key Elements of Successful Group Work
Douglas 1978: pp. 102-104, pp. 112-114, and pp. 117-118 states that there are three steps to achieve the success of the groupwork. The three steps are:
1 the ability to observe; 2 the ability to make appropriate intervention; and 3 the ability to assess the group’s situation. The ability to observe is actually very
important in working in groups. In a group there are several people, not just one; all of the people are parts of the group and all of them are able to influence what is
going to do. Therefore, it is necessary to keep some kind of oversight of everyone. Last but not least, good observation lies at the bottom of all successful work with
groups. The ability to intervene in a group is totally dependent upon the
observation that has been made. Intervention should focus on what is important for either groups’ survival or groups’ achievement. To be able to be focuss means
that the group leader must be clearly aware of the purposes of the group and
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equally aware about what is going on at the moment which can lead the group toward or away from those purposes.
However, the problem of the assessment was solved when Douglas 1978 had an experiment in setting group based on three stages operation. In the first
stage, most effort was put into the slow transfer from didactic teaching to experiential learning. Next, in the middle period the effort was divided between
maintaining the group as entity over the various breaks which occured and encouraging the members to make their own inputs based on their own experience
and learning. Last, the third period was characterized by leadership acts and the substitution of acts. From here, the problem of assessment was solved by the
comment being made upon the performance of the group rather than its individual members.
Johnson et al. 1994 mention that there are five essential factors to achieve success in cooperative learning. The five essential factors are Positive
Interdependence, Student-to-Student Interaction, Individual Accountability, Social Skills and Group Process.
1 Positive Interdependence
Students realize that each individual affects the success and work of the others. Students must share information in order to complete their tasks because
the work is structured Johnson et al., 1994. 2
Student-to-Student Interaction Students are encouraged to help each other. Students share resources with
others, provide constructive feedback, challenge other members ’ reasoning and
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ideas, keep an open mind, act in a trustworthy way, and promote a safe feeling for all by reducing anxiety Johnson et al., 1994.
3 Individual Accountability
Students perform independently even though they work together. Each individual performance is assessed. Students must take personal responsibility to
work toward the group goals Johnson et al., 1994. 4
Social Skills Students learn and use appropriate social skills including leadership,
decision-making, trust building, communication and conflict-management Johnson et al., 1994.
5 Group Process
Students must analyze how well they are achieving their goals while maintaining effective working relationships in order to develop the group process
Johnson et al., 1994. Nation 1989 mentions several factors that determine the success of the
groupwork. The factors are: 1 the learning goals of the group work, 2 the task, 3 the way information is distributed, 4 the seating arrangement of the members
of the group, and 5 the social relationships between the members of the group. These factors should be taken seriously, otherwise, the groupwork will fail and
fall to pieces. The groupwork should also be seen from the difficulty level of the task. If the task could be done by one single person, then the groupwork will be
useless because every member of the group could do the task and they claim that their work is the best one. Besides, the way how the information is distributed
