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into the project than if it were not graded. On the negative side are Cohen’s concerned that
grading products may lead more proficient students to exclude less proficient students who they
fear will bring the grade down. Moreover, if the more proficient students have excluded a less
proficient students, then that student has not had a fair chance to contribute, and it is unfair for
that student to receive low contribution ratings from his or her group members.
An additional concern that arises with out-of-school collaborative group assignments is
that some students may not be able to join a group meeting because of other after-school
commitments. Three students may decide to meet to work on a project at one student’s house on
Monday evening because that is convenient for them. A fourth student may be unable to attend
because her parents cannot give her a ride on Monday night, or she may be required to babysit
siblings after school while her parents are working. Moreover, in out-of-school group meetings,
teachers are not present to help ensure that students do not become disrespectful or even
hostile, and some students may not feel comfortable or even safe in an unsupervised arena.
Thus, in out-of-school group work, there can be many legitimate reasons why a student cannot
join one or more group meetings.Rewards are only one method that teachers can use to encourage effective group processes. Another
kind of method involves providing students with clearly specified guidelines that encourage them to use
high-level cognitive strategies in their group conversations. We will discuss these methods in the next
section.
Guided Cooperation
Guided cooperation is a way of structuring collaborative learning tasks. In guided cooperation,
students are given questions or instructions that specifically encourage them to use specific cognitive
strategies. For example, pairs of students can be directed to take turns summarizing passages that they have
read. We will examine three approaches to guided cooperation: (1) scripted cooperation, (2) Peer-Assisted
Learning Strategies (PALS), and guided peer questioning.
Scripted cooperation. Scripted cooperation is a form of guided cooperation that provides students
with a “script”—a set of questions to ask each other as they study together. Scripted cooperation is
typically used with pairs of students. Consider the following example of how scripted cooperation might be
used by two students studying a textbook together for a text (O'Donnell, 1999, p. 180):
- The two students break the textbook up into sections divided by headings.
- Both students read the first passage.
- The students set the textbook aside so that they cannot refer to it. Both work from memory.
- One student becomes the “recaller.” That student’s task is to recall and summarize what the passage said.
The other student is the “listener.” The listener’s task is to “detect errors, identify omissions, and seek
clarification of specific issues” (O'Donnell, 1999, p. 180). - Both students now talk about the text, adding elaborations to what they had said so far. They co-construct
knowledge during this step. - If necessary, they may check what they have said against the textbook if necessary.
- They repeat steps 2 through 6 for subsequent passages.
Studies of scripted cooperation have demonstrated strong positive benefits. Researchers have found that
pairs who use scripted cooperation learned more than pairs who study together using their own methods
and more than students who study individually (O'Donnell, 1999).
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). Another guided cooperation method is Peer-Assisted
Learning Strategies (PALS). PALS is designed to promote reading comprehension. As in scripted