Cooperative Problem Solving
Overview
As learners work together to solve problems, they learn new strategies and practice Communication skills as they express their academic thinking. This communal process can help students reflect on their problem-solving strategies and adjust their approaches to support future learning, consider others' perspectives, and support Critical Thinking and Collaboration skills. When classrooms scaffold and implement collaborative problem solving as part of the culture of learning, learners are better prepared to come together to achieve classroom and community goals, core to Civic Mindedness. Showcasing problem-solving as a collaborative effort and allowing learners to experience the process of trial and error can help to strengthen Learner Mindset. Working together to analyze concepts and cement understanding can provide autonomy for learners as they begin to grapple with more complex content and explore individual learning processes.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch this high school educator scaffold effective collaborative problem solving with small groups in the classroom. Through this type of activity, learners are given autonomy in their learning to explore concepts and discuss their understanding. The scaffolding of individual group roles helps learners to understand their task and take accountability for their learning.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Cooperative Learning Strategies
Collaborative writing activities allow peers to work together to plan, draft, edit, and revise during the composition process, supporting writing skills and engagement with content knowledge as students write to reflect upon and apply what they have learned.
Flexible grouping is a classroom practice that temporarily places students together in given groups to work together, with the purpose of achieving a given learning goal or activity.
Gallery walks are ways of showcasing content and materials as multiple “exhibitions” for students to view and interact with as part of larger learning goals.
An open classroom climate is an educational environment where students feel comfortable and confident expressing their opinions in class.
Respectful redirection, or error correction, outlines a clear and concise way that educators can provide feedback on behaviors that need immediate correction, in a positive manner.
Socratic seminar refers to a discussion technique that engages learners in the exploration of content through Critical Thinking and classroom dialogue in order to help learners make meaning from what they are learning.
