Abstract:

“It is through student discourse and the interaction of different ideas that students construct meaning” (Kagan, 1985, p. 43). According to Kagan, profound knowledge construction necessitates the existence of two fundamental elements: discourse as well as interaction. Such crucial elements are part and parcel of learner-directed instruction, in which students learn by collaborating and interacting with their classmates (Siegel, 2010). Learner-directed instruction encompasses numerous, yet effective teaching strategies. One of the most efficient, learner-directed teaching strategies, which has been proved to skyrocket students’ motivation, achievement, engagement, and participation, is cooperative learning (CL) (Brody & Baloche, 2017). Hence, the goal of this paper is to explore CL as an active learning strategy. Such paper consists of four sections; the first section tackles theoretical frameworks of CL, the second section entails the pros of CL, the third section illustrates some drawbacks of CL, and the fourth section discusses recommendations for implementing CL.

Keywords:

Cooperative Learning, Learner-Directed Instruction, Active Learning, Group Work.