JIGSAW EXPERIENCE IN UNIVERSITY

One of the problems that a professor at University can find is the lack of overall language proficiency of students. Not all subjects have the right framework and planned objectives to work on these aspects, so that problem is often left to linguistics subjects, in case they exist in the curriculum of the degree. One of the skills required by the EHEA is the ability to work in team. Our lecturers research group has experienced a team methodology for improving their own spelling. The process is cooperative: each team member specializes in a section of Spanish spelling, working it carefully with their counterparts from other expert groups of the class and moving their findings to the rest of their peer group origin, while receiving input from the different sections worked for others.
The results have been satisfactory in several aspects, fact which demonstrates the suitability of the method and its effectiveness: it motivates students and achieves optimization of resources.

Cooperative learning (CL) is a internationally known methodology developed by authors such as David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson, which was introduced in Spain by Lew Barnett,as show Daniel Cassany after his experience with students on Spanish as a foreign language. The philosophy of cooperative learning has to do with the maxim of Seneca "Qui docet discet" (who teaches, learns): students learn more when they make the effort to explain what they know to their companions. Indeed, precisely in this process it is possible to find gaps in understanding that they ignored to have—or they thought to be comprised—as the necessary motivation to continue learning. In addition, the literature is unanimous: provided that the teacher shows the benefits of cooperation among peers versus the individualistic competition, the apprentice will be interested and active in the learning of the other, because the student will realize that helping to learn his own knowledge will be increased, as well as his social skills and his own personal satisfaction.