BENEFITS OF ACTIVE AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING

1. Provides opportunities for higher order thinking as opposed to passive listening. Reinforces listening to others and gives opportunity for immediate feedback and adjustment of thought.

Students talking together provide for input and listening. Students often have to assess the thoughts/ideas of peers, determine whether they “fit” their own, whether they disagree, or partially agree. Students have an opportunity to speak their ideas/thoughts for better formulation. Some often say, “I didn’t think of that” or “That’s a different slant.”

2. Promotes greater student-faculty and student-student interaction.

Students assist each other in understanding material/content. This may even help students broaden their perspectives on issues or problems. Professors have an opportunity to move from group to group, listen and if appropriate add comments. For some students this is the only personalization with a professor that ever occurs. Professors may answer questions that might never be asked without the closer interaction. Problems or misunderstandings can quickly and quietly be handled.

3. Increases student retention and limits anxiety. Students are not overloaded with information. Students actually get time to think about, to talk about, and process information.

Improves interaction and “talk” (Vygotskian Constructivism) and provides opportunities for students to think about and process the information. Time for “talking” and/or “writing” is needed to help students make sense of what they hear before attempting to “take in” even more information.

4. Permits opportunities to connect the content to real life.

Students are often hesitant to speak up and offer opinions, especially in very large classes. Students can provide real life examples of the content being