c. Abundant verbal, face-to-face interactions, where learners explain, argue,
elaborate, and link current material with what they have learned previously. d.
Sufficient social skills, involving explicit teaching of appropriate leadership, communication, trust, and conflict resolution skills so that the team can
function effectively. e.
Team reflection, whereby the teams periodically asses what they have learned, how well they are working together and how they might do better as
a learning team. From the statements above, the writer concludes that Cooperative
Learning is an approach which transforms the classroom from individual to group network where the students work in small heterogeneous groups and they
learn their best with their group.
2. The Principles of Cooperative Learning
In applying Cooperative Learning, sometimes teachers just try one or two suggested structures presented in a staff development session. It is very important
for the teachers to think that they can make different definition, characteristic, potential uses of cooperative learning. The most important one, Ovando and
friends state that the concept is adaptable, flexible, and meant to be used creatively by teachers
36
. Before applying it in the classroom, teachers are considered to tell to their
students the principles of Cooperative Learning, so both teachers and students understand what they are going to do. Here are the principles of Cooperative
Learning
37
; a.
Students are encouraged to think of ‗positive interdependence’, which means
that the
students are
not thinking
competitively and
individualistically, but rather cooperatively and in terms of the group.
36
Ovando, et.al., Bilingual ESL …, p. 94.
37
Diane Larsen-Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, 2
nd
ed., p. 164.
b. In cooperative learning, students often stay together in the same groups for a
period of time so they can learn how to work better together. The teacher usually assigns students to the groups are mixed
– males and females, different ethnic groups, different proficiency levels, etc. this allows students
to learn from each other and also gives them practice in how to get along with people different from themselves.
c. The efforts of an individual help not only the individual to be rewarded, but
also others in the class. d.
Social skills such as acknowledging another’s contribution, asking others to contribute, and keeping the conversation calm need to be explicitly taught.
e. Language acquisition is facilitated by students interacting in the target
language. f.
Although students work together, each student is individually accountable. g.
Responsibility and accountability for each other’s learning is shared. h.
Each group member should be encouraged to feel responsible for participating and for learning lea
dership is ‗distributed’. i.
Teachers not only teach language: they teach cooperation as well. Of course, since social skills involve the use of language, cooperative learning teaches
language for both academic and social purpose. The main goal of Cooperative Learning is the development and
maintenance of positive interdependence among team members. Positive interdependence is an important aspect to the success of cooperative group,
because the dynamic of interconnectedness a relationship among the group members helps students learn to realize that in the group, like in real life, each
of us can do something, but none of us can do everything without someone’s assistance.
A sense of interconnectedness can help students to omit the differences in gender, racial, cultural, linguistic, and other differences they may sense among
themselves. For the effectiveness, members should engage in teambuilding activities and other tasks by arguing and discussion which can develop social
skills for effective teamwork. When it is done well, cooperative learning is a
highly structured teaching strategy that capitalizes on the fact that many children learn better in the midst of interaction with their peers
38
.
3. The Techniques of Cooperative Learning
There are many techniques in Cooperative Learning which can be applied by teachers in teaching-learning activities, such as; Student Teams-Achievement
Divisions STAD, Teams-Games-Tournament TGT, Jigsaw, and Team Accelerated Instruction TAI. Three are general cooperative learning methods
adapted to most subjects and grade levels; STAD, TGT, and Jigsaw
39
. The writer limits his study only in Student Teams-Achievement Division
STAD technique as he mentioned in chapter one.
C. Student Teams-Achievement Division STAD Technique
1. The Understanding of STAD
Student Teams-Achievement Divisions STAD technique is one of a set of instructional techniques developed and researched by Robert E. Slavin at John
Hopkins University. STAD is also known as Student Team Learning. It is one of the oldest cooperative learning methods. Two of the oldest and most extensively
researched forms of cooperative learning are Student Teams-Achievement Divisions and Teams-Games-Tournaments
40
. It is also the simplest cooperative learning methods, and the most appropriate method for teachers who want to
apply the Cooperative Learning for the first time in their teaching-learning activities. STAD is one of the simplest of all cooperative learning methods, and
is a good model to begin with for teachers who are new to the cooperative approach
41
. According to many teaching researches, it is very appropriate in teaching many subjects than other cooperative learning methods and can be used
for every level education. Shlomo Sharan writes , ―It is also very adaptable – it
38
Williams, Cooperative Learning …, p. 3.
39
Slavin, Cooperative Learning …, p. 5.
40
Slavin, Cooperative Learning …, p. 71.
41
Slavin, Cooperative Learning …, p. 71.
has been used in mathematics, science, social studies, English, industrial arts, and many other subjects, and at levels from 2
nd
grade to college
42
.‖ STAD expects students learn together with other team mates in a small
team to study the subject that is presented. Shlomo Sharan states, ―These
techniques are based on the idea of having students work in cooperative learning teams to learn academic objectives
43
.‖ The smartest students are expected to teach the lowest students until they understand and master the subject that is
presented. They not only study to answer the task correctly but also study how to make all the group members understand and master the subject so all the group
members can answer the task correctly. The students’ task are not to do
something as a team, but to learn something as a team, where the team’s work isn’t done until all team members have mastered the material being studied
44
. This is done because they are not allowed helping each other in answering
quizzes although they study together as a team. In STAD, students are assigned to four-member learning teams that are
mixed in performance level, sex and ethnicity
45
. Students are divided into small groups consist of four to five members. The groups must be totally
heterogeneous. The groups are mixed in high, average, and low levels, boys and girls, different ethnicity, and different religion. Do not allow students choose
their own teams, because they will prefer to choose others like themselves. According to Slavin, there are many steps in assigning students to team.
The steps are:
46
a. Make copies of team summary sheets.
b. Rank students.
The rank is arranged from highest to lowest in performance, test score, grades, or your own judgment.
c. Decide on the number of teams.
42
Sharan, Handbook of …, p. 4.
43
Sharan, Handbook of …, p. 1.
44
Sharan, Handbook of …, p. 3.
45
Sharan, Handbook of …, p. 4.
46
Slavin, Cooperative Learning …, p. 74—75.
