On the surface, cooperative and collaborative learning sound very similar. Once you learn more about them, you realize that while they are similar, there are some distinct differences. Both learning experiences are done in a group work setting. Each of them have limited teacher involvement, but there is a slight difference with teacher involvement between the two. With collaborative learning, the teacher kind of hovers around the groups, ready to help direct if needed. With cooperative, the students are truly in control of their learning (Anuradha, 2021). With collaborative learning, the students perform self-assessments to determine how well the group learned the objective. In cooperative learning, the teacher assesses how the groups work together (Anuradha, 2021). Cooperative learning focuses on the group work as a whole while collaborative learning focuses on the strengths of each individual (Drew, 2021).
The main similarities between the two learning experiences are vague and oftentimes harder to see from an outsider standpoint. The biggest similarity, as stated previously, is that both are group settings within the classroom. With both of the learning experiences, the students are learning how to interact with one another and work together to solve problems. While the teacher exists if there are major issues, each group is expected to mediate their own disagreements. The students are tasked to work together for a common goal. This provides good practice for their future in the workforce. Bosses, as a general rule, do not want to mediate petty conflicts between employees, so it is an important skill for students to learn before they are in the work place (Drew, 2021).
As an ELA teacher, I can think of a couple of ways that I would love to use group work. I am still not allowed to in my class due to spacing and COVID guidelines, but the planning of teaching in a post-COVID world makes me so happy. I would like to use a cooperative learning experience in a basic debate style lesson. I would give my students an article to read about a topic in current events, which right now would be the war between Russia and Ukraine. After reading the article, I would have the students have a discussion about if the article was biased or not. The students would then be given the task of creating an assignment to enhance their learning. The students would create a rubric together about how they worked as a group and grade each other on the effort.
With a collaborative learning experience, I would assign a group project. Each group would get a subject that they are required to research. As they are researching, I would be wandering between groups, ready to help as needed. The students would be in the same groups for a given amount of time and they would be working on the project together. Each student would be graded on their participation by the teacher. While taking into account that all of the students are individual people, the whole group would be graded on their presentation at the end. I am no where near ready to start having group work in my classes, but beginning to think about options is a great thing to start doing.