Marzano Chapter 7: Cooperative Learning

I like that the author points out that "cooperative learning should be applied consistently and systematically, but not overused." The text suggests that this strategy is most effective if you use it about once a week. If it is overused, students may not get enough independent practice to really master the content. Also, I think that if you do grouping too much, the novelty of it wears off, and it can backfire. In addition, it isn't enough to just throw kids into groups and call it cooperative learning. They need to have structured guidance in order to maximize the effectiveness of working together. I think there is value in changing the groups frequently too so that students can learn to work with people other than their best friends. The downside? It sometimes takes a lot of brain power to put the groups together so that they are balanced!