• The "BIGs" Program
• Cases
• Cooperative Learning
  • Benefits of cooperative learning or teaming
  • Creating a climate for cooperative learning
  • Diversity issues
  • Forming small groups
  • Assessing small group cooperative learning
• Building Community
• Assessment
• Resources

BIGs Insights > Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is an instructional approach whereby students form small teams to accomplish a set of learning goals. The team is usually a small group of individuals with complementary skills who share a common objective and who hold themselves mutually accountable for successful completion of that objective. In the BIGs classroom, the role of the instructor is to form small teams, create a climate conducive to cooperative learning and implement teambuilding activities that enable the students to work most effectively to confront and solve complex problems. The instructor can be instrumental in setting the tone and expectations for the class by implementing appropriate group assignments (team building activities at the beginning of the course and activities linked to the cases each team is working on) and classroom management strategies to ensure effective learning teams.

Two of the key objectives in BIGs are to promote interdisciplinary thinking in students and allow students to collaborate successfully with others to solve complex biological problems. Both of these objectives can be met by utilizing small group cooperative learning, also called team-based learning.