This monograph explores the current use in higher education of cooperative learning, the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. The opening section sets out to define cooperative learning, and to look at the history of the technique, its basic elements, types of cooperative learning groups, and implications for faculty functioning and the educational institution overall. The next section discusses the five basic elements of cooperative learning: (1) positive interdependence; (2) face-to-face promotive interaction; (3) individual accountability and personal responsibility; (4) frequent use of interpersonal and small group social skills; and (5) frequent, regular group processing of current functioning. The following section reviews the research validating the effectiveness of cooperative learning in college classrooms including research on social interdependence, patterns of interaction, and learning outcomes. The next three sections focus on the instructor's role in using formal cooperative learning groups, informal cooperative learning groups, and cooperative base groups under the titles "The Instructor's Role in Cooperative Learning, ""The Cooperative Lecture," and "Base Groups." The next section examines cooperation among faculty. A concluding section describes two typical cooperative learning class sessions and speculates on the impact this method will have in the future. (177 references) (JB).

Research has identified cooperative learning as one of the ten High Impact Practices that improve student learning. If you’ve been interested in cooperative learning, but wondered how it would work in your discipline, this book provides the necessary theory, and a wide range of concrete examples.Experienced users of cooperative learning demonstrate how they use it in settings as varied as a developmental mathematics course at a community college, and graduate courses in history and the sciences, and how it works in small and large classes, as well as in hybrid and online environments. The authors describe the application of cooperative learning in biology, economics, educational psychology, financial accounting, general chemistry, and literature at remedial, introductory, and graduate levels.The chapters showcase cooperative learning in action, at the same time introducing the reader to major principles such as individual accountability, positive interdependence, heterogeneous teams, group processing, and social or leadership skills.The authors build upon, and cross-reference, each others’ chapters, describing particular methods and activities in detail. They explain how and why they may differ about specific practices while exemplifying reflective approaches to teaching that never fail to address important assessment issues.

Learn to design interest-provoking writing and critical thinking activities and incorporate them into your courses in a way that encourages inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate, with Engaging Ideas, a practical nuts-and-bolts guide for teachers from any discipline. Integrating critical thinking with writing-across-the-curriculum approaches, the book shows how teachers from any discipline can incorporate these activities into their courses. This edition features new material dealing with genre and discourse community theory, quantitative/scientific literacy, blended and online learning, and other current issues.

This volume offers research-based studies on English for Specific Purposes in higher education from across the world. By drawing on international studies, the book brings together diverse ESP practices and aspects of relevant issues in the development of ESP programs, teachers and learners in a coherent fashion. There is a growing need for undergraduate students to develop their proficiency of ESP skills and knowledge in the increasingly globalized world. Knowledge of ESP is an important factor in subject matter learning by students, and also closely related to the performance of university graduates in the relevant sectors. Careful planning and efficient implementation are essential to ensure the quality of the language learning process. For a variety of reasons, it proves difficult to maintain ESP instruction in higher education. These reasons include the incompetence of teachers, lack of materials for that specific context, as well as lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop their skills. The chapters in this book, taken from a wide variety of countries, shed light on the diversity of current practices and issues surrounding ESP.

During the past two decades, telecommunication technologies combined with Web-enabled technologies have created a new technology-based focus, Web-based learning and teaching. This new area has changed the concept of education around the world, creating new challenges and opportunities offered by this new technology-based concept. Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges addresses many issues, trends, opportunities and problems facing colleges and universities in the effective utilization and management of Web-based learning and teaching technologies.