The Importance Of Cooperative Education

Mathematics is an interesting subject. But it can be a difficult subject particularly if one doesn’t have the right attitude in place. Mathematics is no longer simply a solitary subject in and of itself. Rather its integration into multiple aspects of everyday life in the 21st century, makes it necessary to show pupils how it can be used easily, effectively and integrated with the other subjects for improvement. Mathematics is a complex subject but once you know how to approach it strategically , you’ll find it less frustrating and have much higher chances of success.

In the most public school setting, many classrooms have pupils with a wide range of abilities, with different intellectual capacities,

Students encourage and support each other, assume responsibility for their own and each other 's learning, employ group related social skills, and evaluate the group 's progress. The basic elements are positive interdependence, face to face interaction, heterogeneous group, clear directions, equal opportunities, a clear set of learning objectives, individual accountability and sufficient time. Human beings are social creatures by nature and cooperation has been used throughout history in all aspects of our lives. Therefore, it follows that cooperative learning groups in schools would be used as a logical teaching

The developmental characteristics of middle school students make cooperative learning a good fit of teaching strategy for the needs of the students. Young adolescents need to socialize, be a part of a group, share feelings, receive emotional support, and learn to see things from other perspectives. Cooperative learning has been linked to other positive social or affective outcomes. One benefit is the increase in social skills of students who participate in group work (Whicker et al., 1997). These skills can help students perform in situations outside of the school setting. Being able to work with others can be a very useful attribute to have when seeking employment in many companies. It is important to create an atmosphere in the classroom where students feel comfortable to share their ideas. This may take time for the group members to become aware of the strengths that each member can bring to the entire group. Structure of the groups is important. In the research by Gillies (2004) and Yamarik (2007), children in the structured groups demonstrated less non-cooperative behaviors and less off-task behaviors than their peers in the unstructured groups. They were more willing to work with others on the task, listen to what they had to say, and share ideas and information (Gillies, 2004). The novelty of working in