Editing Cooperative learning (section)

== History ==
Prior to World War II, social theorists such as Allport, Watson, Shaw, and Mead began establishing cooperative learning theory after finding that group work was more effective and efficient in quantity, quality, and overall productivity when compared to working alone.<ref name="Gilles">Gilles, R.M., & Adrian, F. (2003). Cooperative Learning: The social and intellectual Outcomes of Learning in Groups. London: Farmer Press.</ref> However, it wasn't until 1937 when researchers May and Doob<ref name="MayDoob">May, M. and Doob, L. (1937). Cooperation and Competition. New York: Social Sciences Research Council</ref> found that people who cooperate and work together to achieve shared goals were more successful in attaining outcomes, than those who strived independently to complete the same goals. Furthermore, they found that independent achievers had a greater likelihood of displaying competitive behaviors.

Philosophers and psychologists in the 1930s and 1940s such as [[John Dewey]], [[Kurt Lewin]], and Morton Deutsh also influenced the cooperative learning theory practiced today.<ref name="Sharan">{{cite journal | last1 = Sharan | first1 = Y | year = 2010 | title = Cooperative Learning for Academic and Social Gains: valued pedagogy, problematic practice | journal = European Journal of Education | volume = 45 | issue = 2| pages = 300–313 | doi=10.1111/j.1465-3435.2010.01430.x}}</ref> Dewey believed it was important that students develop knowledge and social skills that could be used outside of the classroom, and in the democratic society. This theory portrayed students as active recipients of knowledge by discussing information and answers in groups, engaging in the learning process together rather than being passive receivers of information (e.g., teacher talking, students listening).

Lewin's contributions to cooperative learning were based on the ideas of establishing relationships between group members in order to successfully carry out and achieve the learning goal. Deutsh's contribution to cooperative learning was [[positive interdependence|positive social interdependence]], the idea that the student is responsible for contributing to group knowledge.<ref name="Sharan" />

Since then, David and Roger Johnson have been actively contributing to the cooperative learning theory. In 1975, they identified that cooperative learning promoted mutual liking, better communication, high acceptance and support, as well as demonstrated an increase in a variety of thinking strategies among individuals in the group.<ref name="Johnson 1975">Johnson, D., Johnson, R. (1975). Learning together and alone: cooperation, competition, and individualization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.</ref> Students who showed to be more competitive lacked in their interaction and trust with others, as well as in their emotional involvement with other students.

In 1994 Johnson and Johnson published the ''five elements'' (positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, social skills, and processing) essential for effective group learning, achievement, and higher-order social, personal and cognitive skills (e.g., problem solving, reasoning, decision-making, planning, organizing, and reflecting).<ref name="Johnson 1994">Johnson, D., Johnson, R. (1994). Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Needham Heights, MA: Prentice-Hall.</ref>