Editing Cooperative learning (section)

== Limitations and problems ==
Cooperative Learning has many limitations that could cause the process to be more complicated than first perceived. Sharan (2010) describes the constant evolution of cooperative learning as a threat. Because cooperative learning is constantly changing, there is a possibility that teachers may become confused and lack complete understanding of the method. The highly dynamic nature of cooperative learning means that it can not be used effectively in many situations. Also teachers can get into the habit of relying on cooperative learning as a way to keep students busy. While cooperative learning will consume time, the most effective application of cooperative learning hinges on an active instructor. Teachers implementing cooperative learning may also be challenged with resistance and hostility from students who believe that they are being held back by slower teammates or by students who are less confident and feel that they are being ignored or demeaned by their team.<ref name="Sharan" />

Students often provide feedback in the form of evaluations or reviews on success of the teamwork experienced during cooperative learning experiences. Peer review and evaluations may not reflect true experiences due to perceived competition among peers. Students might feel pressured into submitting inaccurate evaluations due to bullying. Although assessment of groups can lead to inaccurate results, a study was done that found students who participated in groups that ended with self assessment performed significantly better than the groups who did not end with self assessment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pratten |first1=Margaret K. |last2=Merrick |first2=Deborah |last3=Burr |first3=Steven A. |date=May 2014 |title=Group in-course assessment promotes cooperative learning and increases performance |url=https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ase.1397 |journal=Anatomical Sciences Education |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=224–233 |doi=10.1002/ase.1397 |pmid=24039224 |issn=1935-9772}}</ref> To eliminate such concerns, confidential evaluation processes and individual performance evaluation may help to increase evaluation strength.<ref name="Tsay and Brady 2010"/><ref name=":4" />

=== Group hate ===

Group hate is defined as "a feeling of dread that arises when facing the possibility of having to work in a group<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Sorensen |first=Susan M. |date=1981 |title=Grouphate: a negative reaction to group work |conference=Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association |id={{ERIC|ED204821}}}}</ref> When students develop group hate their individual performance in the group suffers and in turn the group as a whole suffers. There are many factors that lead students to experience these feelings of group hate. The more crucial elements include past bad experiences, group fatigue due to overuse of cooperative learning and whether they prefer to work alone.

When students are given a choice between group based or individual work, they often evaluate several factors. The three most common factors are how likely they are to get a good grade, the difficulty of the task, and the amount of effort involved. Students will choose to do the work individually more often that not, because they feel that they can do a better job individually than as a group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lewis |last2=Haywaird |date=2003 |title=Choice-based learning: student reactions in an undergraduate organizational communication course |journal=Communication Education |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=148–156 |doi=10.1080/03634520302467 |s2cid=144617585}}</ref>

It is difficult to definitively identify which factors lead to a student forming group hate, as each group and individual is unique. However, there are several common concerns that lead to students developing group hate.
* Concerns about the teachers' role
* Concerns about the students' role
* Concerns about fairness and use of resources.
Concerns about the teachers' role usually stem from lack of communication from the teacher as to what exactly is expected of the group. It is difficult for a teacher to find the right balance between being overbearing, and not providing sufficient structure and oversight.&nbsp; While an experienced teacher may be able to strike the balance every time, most teachers tend to lean one way or the other which can cause confusion with the students. This is only amplified when the students are put into groups and asked to complete a project with insufficient instructions. The way a teacher chooses to structure a project can influence how a student perceives the project overall.&nbsp; Whether or not a student likes a teaching style or not can influence if they develop group hate.<ref name=":0">{{cite book | last1=Allen | first1=Terre | last2=Plax | first2=Timothy | title=New Directions in Group Communication | chapter=Exploring Consequences of Group Communication in the Classroom: Unraveling Relational Learning | publisher=SAGE Publications | publication-place=Thousand Oaks | year=2002 | doi=10.4135/9781412990042.n12 | pages=219–234| isbn=9780761912811 }}</ref>

The next concern that leads students to developing group hate is that students get sick of working with the same group members over and over again.&nbsp; Cooperative learning &nbsp;is becoming so common that students are beginning to develop group hate simply because they are doing too many group projects. Students express opinions such as, "so many group projects with the same people", and, "we are all up in each others business".<ref name=":0" /> While the building of personal relationships can be a positive aspect of cooperative learning, it can also be a negative if a person has to continually work with people who are constantly letting them down or who are difficult to work with. Unfortunately, it is common to have group members that exhibit signs of loafing within the group.<ref>{{Cite periodical |last=Glenn |date=2010 |title=Students Give Group Assignments a Failing Grade |periodical=The Chronicle of Higher Education }}</ref>

=== Loafing ===
{{main|Social loafing}}
Loafing is defined as "students who don't take responsibility for their own role, even if it is the smallest role in the group."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Isaac|first=Megan|date=March 2012|title=I Hate Group Work: Social Loafers, Indignant Peers, and the Drama of The Classroom|journal=The English Journal|volume=101|issue=4 |pages=83–89|doi=10.58680/ej201218753 |jstor=41415478}}</ref> Students expect that group based learning will be fair for everyone within the group. In order for cooperative learning &nbsp;to be fair the work load must be shared equally within the group. Many students fear that this will not take place.&nbsp; This leads to the students developing group hate.
{{blockquote|text=The fear that some members of the group will act as passengers or social loafers and derive a benefit (generally a good grade) from the group activity undermines the effectiveness of the group. Some students hoard their intellectual capital to make sure that no one unjustly benefits from it. Ironically, some of the students most indignant about "slackers" or "freeloaders" make immediate assumptions about their peers and insist from the outset that they will have to take care of everything in order to maintain control. There are many ways for a concern about equity to warp the function of a group. Therefore, to make groups more effective, the most important thing an instructor can do to defuse student resistance to cooperative learning &nbsp;is to focus attention on the issue of "fairness."<ref name=":1" />}}
In order for students not to develop group hate the instructors must be very aware of this process and take steps to insure that the project is fair. This can be a difficult task. It is often difficult to gauge which students are loafing while the project is taking place, unless other students in the group bring the problem to the attention of the instructor.

=== Over-reliance on the stronger students ===
Research has highlighted concerns that in a cooperative learning settings, some students may depend heavily on others in the group who have a stronger grasp of the materials.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2013-04-03 |title=Cooperative Learning in Science, Mathematics, and Computer Problem Solving |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203062746-15/cooperative-learning-science-mathematics-computer-problem-solving-vincent-lunetta |journal=Taylor & Francis |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203062746-15 |doi-broken-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20231203142807/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203062746-15/cooperative-learning-science-mathematics-computer-problem-solving-vincent-lunetta |archive-date=2023-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Slavin |first=Robert E. |date=November 1983 |title=When does cooperative learning increase student achievement? |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.94.3.429 |journal=Psychological Bulletin |language=en |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=429–445 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.94.3.429 |issn=1939-1455}}</ref> This dynamic can lead to loafing and also prevent the teacher from identifying areas where certain students struggle, as homework grades often reflect only the understanding of the better-performed students. To address this issue, some studies recommend designing assignments that incorporate both cooperative and individual components.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tsang |first1=Man-Yin |last2=Lutty |first2=Lisa |last3=Bank |first3=Garl-Georg |title=The Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning in Teaching Quantitative Reasoning With Ternary Diagrams in a Science Class |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0047231X.2023.12315886 |journal=Journal of College Science Teaching |date=2023 |volume=52 |issue=7 |pages=111–118|doi=10.1080/0047231X.2023.12315886 }}</ref>

=== Assessment of groups ===

It is a common practice to have the groups self assess after the project is complete. However, "assessment can be the Achilles heel of cooperative learning".<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Boud | editor-first=David | editor-last2=Cohen | editor-first2=Ruth | editor-last3=Sampson | editor-first3=Jane | title=Peer Learning in Higher Education | place=London | publisher=Routledge | date=2001 | isbn=978-1-135-38346-6 | doi=10.4324/9781315042565 | page=}}</ref> Students often will assess their group positively in hopes that they will in return be assessed the same way. This often leads to inaccurate assessments of the group. "For most instructors, one of the greatest pedagogical challenges for a group communication course is to help students realize that the benefits of cooperative learning outweigh the costs involved".<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Barton |date=2005 |title=Turning Grouphate into competent communication: Shared Governance and the small group classroom |journal=North Dakota Journal of Speech & Theatre}}</ref>

=== Group cohesion and conflict management ===

Another aspect of cooperative learning that leads to group members developing group hate is that "groups are unable to achieve sufficient cohesion because they fail to manage conflict effectively".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rothwell|date=2004|title=Instruction based on cooperative learning|journal=Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction}}</ref> The students are not usually in a group long enough to develop good group cohesion and establish effective ways to resolve conflict. The problem is that most students have had a negative experience in groups and consequently are apprehensive to get into such a situation again.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Keyton Harmon Frey|date=1996|title=Grouphate: Implications for Teaching Group Communication |journal=Instructional Development}}</ref>&nbsp; "One answer to this dilemma is to demonstrate how groups trump individuals in terms of problem solving".<ref name=":2" /> If instructors are able to effectively accomplish this it is a positive step towards eliminating group hate.

Group hate exists in almost all student group, due to factors such as past bad experiences, concerns about how the project will play out, worries about others loafing, or not knowing how to effectively manage conflict that may arise within the group. However, group based learning is an important aspect of higher education and should continue to be used. More companies are turning towards team based models in order to become more efficient in the work place.<ref name=":2" /> Limiting student feelings of group hate leads to students having better group experiences and learning how to work better in groups.

Cooperative learning is becoming more and more popular within the American education system.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Caruso Wooley|date=2008|title=Harnessing the power of emergent interdependence to promote diverse team collaboration |journal=Diversity and Groups|series=Research on Managing Groups and Teams|volume=11|pages=245–266|doi=10.1016/S1534-0856(08)11011-8|isbn=978-1-84855-052-0}}</ref> It is almost uncommon not to have some cooperative learning elements within a college class. However, it is not uncommon to hear students expressing negative opinions regarding cooperative learning.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Myers|date=2012|title=Students' perceptions of classroom group work as a function of group member selection|journal=[[Communication Teacher]]|volume=26|pages=50–64|doi=10.1080/17404622.2011.625368|s2cid=144926877}}</ref> Feichtner and Davis stated that this is because "entirely too many students are leaving the classroom experiencing only the frustrations of cooperative learning and not the numerous benefits possible through team based effort".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Feichtner & Davis|date=1984|title=Why some groups fail: A survey of students' experiences with learning groups |journal=Organizational Behavior Teaching Review|volume=9|issue=4|pages=58–73|doi=10.1177/105256298400900409|hdl=11244/25221|s2cid=144047578|hdl-access=free}}</ref> One of the main flaws with previous research is that the research is almost always done from the perspective of the instructor, giving a flawed view as the instructors are not the ones who are participating in the cooperative learning.

{{blockquote|From the (often blind) viewpoint of instructors, we had always viewed cooperative learning as an added advantage for the students – an opportunity to receive additional support while working closely with their peers. We had never really considered what a disastrous experience some frustrated students must endure, or why some students reported only positive experiences from classes utilizing group learning techniques.<ref name=":3" />}}