Curriculum
Curriculum Resources: Online Resources

Cooperative Learning

Co-Directors: Roger T. Johnson and David W. Johnson (photo together)

What is Cooperative Learning?

Cooperative Learning is a relationship in a group of students that requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face promotive interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better).

What does the Cooperative Learning Center do?

The Cooperative Learning Center is a Research and Training Center focusing on how students should interact with each other as they learn and the skills needed to interact effectively. More....

Essays on developments pioneered by the Cooperative Learning Center

An Overview of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning Methods: A Meta-Analysis

Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers: Results Of Twelve Years Of Research

Civil Political Discourse In A Democracy: The Contribution Of Psychology

Cooperative learning Formal cooperative learning, informal cooperative learning, and cooperative base groups.

The cooperative school Cooperative teaching teams, school-based decision-making, cooperative faculty meeting.

Controversy Academic controversy to increase quality of learning and decision controversy to increase quality of decision making.

Decision controversy

Conflict resolution

Peacemaking Problem-solving negotiations, peer mediation.

Cooperative learning and assessment

Social Interdependence Theory

Teaching Students to be Peacemakers

Cooperative Learning in the Culturally Diverse Classrooms

Promoting Safe Educational and Community Environments

Information about the purposes of the Cooperative Learning Center

Theory and research Center staff develop and refine theory and (a) cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts and (b) conflict resolution. Staff are engaged in programmatic, long-term research to validate the theories.

Practical procedures Center staff use the validated theory to develop practical procedures to be used in classrooms, schools, and other settings. The practical procedures include cooperative learning, school based decision making, academic controversy, decision-making controversy, conflict resolution, and peer mediation.

Implementation and network Center staff developed and maintains a national and international network of educational and training institutions that are using cooperative learning, the cooperative school, controversy, and peacemaking procedures on a long-term basis.

Training Center staff develop and refine training programs at the University of Minnesota, in school districts and colleges, and in summer institutes.

Materials Center staff have written numerous books, research articles, book chapters, and training manuals to provide help and assistance in implementing the procedures developed by Center staff.