7286#2-please Choose A Topic For Me Example

7286#2-please Choose A Topic For Me Example 7286#2-please Choose A Topic For Me â€" Essay Example > IntroductionThis assignment is about selecting and evaluating an instructional strategy that can be applied effectively in my teaching area. After careful analysis of different instruction approaches, cooperative learning was selected due to its relevance and applicability. Cooperative learning has the reputation for being an effective alternative to traditional teaching approaches but there is little direct evidence that it can provide the same benefit in vocational education. For this reason, an investigation of this popular instructional teaching method was conducted using a range of literature and relevant cognitive theories. These include evaluating the kind of knowledge that can be developed in cooperative learning, skills that may be acquired, expertise that may developed, and its ability to transfer knowledge. Moreover, the effectiveness of cooperative learning was compared with other instruction approach such as collaborative learning and traditional teaching strategies. An argument and overall appraisal of cooperative learning is also presented in this study along with a short discussion in the possibility of applying the teaching strategy in vocational education. Cooperative Learning GroupsThere are five main types of instructional strategy â€" direct, interactive, indirect, independent, experiential, and instructional. Under the interactive type is the cooperative learning groups which according to Orlich et al. (2009), is a teaching strategy based on small-group approach where learners are responsible for individual and group achievement (p. 268). The idea is to put the students at the centre of the learning of the educational process to stimulate learning. As a result, students’ motivation is increased and learning runs deep (Williams Dunn 2007, p. 126). Cooperative learning has five important elements â€" positive interdependence, individual accountability, group processing, face-to-face interaction, and collaborative skills (Williams Dun n 2007, p. 126). Positive interdependence assures that each student has the responsibility of learning assigned material while other members of the group learn at the same time. Similarly, each member of the group is accountable and must contribute his or her fair share in the group process to achieve the group’s goal. In developing social skills, face-to-face interaction allows each member to discuss academic or content-based goal. It related to collaborative skills where students are being taught to communicate effectively with one another (Demchak 1997, p. 23). According to Brody Neil Davidson (1998), cooperative learning group will work well in classrooms where instructional decisions are based and guided by research-validated theory that can provide the foundation for planning, analyzing, and modification of classroom application. Similarly, knowledge of learning theories can help in understanding the importance of different factors in cooperative interaction (p. 65). For instance, cognitive-development theory recognized cooperation as an important factor for cognitive growth. This is because working cooperatively with more capable peers results to construction knowledge that is consequential to cognitive development and intellectual growth. The incentives being provided to members of the group in cooperative learning is also linked to behavioural learning theory where students are assumed to work harder when there is a corresponding reward or punishment (DeZure 2000, p. 207). Constructivist view cooperative learning groups as facilitators of generative learning as working with peers enable refinement of knowledge through argumentation, structured controversy and reciprocal teaching (Wilson 1996, p. 68). Cooperative learning in part is constructivist particularly when cooperative learning group members seek for understanding and personalizing meaning (Foote et al, 2001, p. 46). Constructivist believed that students' make sense of what they are prese nted by associating it with prior knowledge and this is being facilitated in cooperative learning. For instance, when new information is introduced to a student’s existing knowledge framework, this student will be enlightened on that information and share it with others. While the student is sharing and explaining his new found knowledge, the listener will then question and challenge their own understanding resulting to the expansion of mental energies on both the information deliverer and receiver (Druger et al, 2004, p. 25).