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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

What Is Cooperative Learning?

KEV
Cooperative learning is a win-win situation. IDEA

Everyone wins: students, teachers, The greater the

administrators, community, and humankind. time students work
together and the
greater the
responsibilities
T he students now know how to accomplish their assignments
(Chapter 22), and they know how they will be tested (Chapter 23).
What occurs between the assignment and the test is what teaching is
students take for
their work, the
all about. Effective teachers spend their educational career learning greater the learning.
better techniques that will help students succeed in school and in
life. This chapter will discuss one of those techniques:
COOPERATIVE LEARNING.

Cooperative learning refers to a set of instructional techniques whereby

students work in small, mixed-ability learning groups_. The students COOPERATIVE
in each group are responsible not only for the material being taught in LEARNING
class but also for helping their groupmates learn. In its simplest form, is not so much
it looks like this:
learning to
1. The teacher presents a lesson to the students. cooperate
2. The student groups are assigned activities to master as it is
the objectives. cooperating
3. The teacher teaches group and study strategies.
4. The students work together to help one another master to learn.
the objectives.

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 Lesson Mastery

In cooperative groups, students help one another complete an activity

the teacher has assigned. It is a structured situation. During the
activity, the students clarify opinions, compare impressions, share
The parents ... see cooperative solutions, and develop skills for leadership and teamwork. Cooperative
learning as a bonus because their learning is a win-win situation. Everyone wins: students, teachers,
children are getting the training in administrators, community, and humankind.
leadership, group decision making, and
conflict management they'll need to be
successful in later life. The reason cooperative learning is so successful is that the context of a
work group is more important than the content of the group. If you
- Rog er Johnson have a group of people who care for and are committed to one another,
they are going to achieve the goal of the activity much more quickly
than if each were to attempt the task alone.

Compete Only Against Yourself

If any sign belongs in your classroom, it is the one shown in this illustration.
The message to your students is this:
• There is only one person in the world you need to compete against,
and that is yourself.
• Strive each day to be the best person possible.
• Your mission in life is not to get ahead of other people; your mission
is to get ahead of yourself.
• But while you are competing against yourself, you are expected to work
with everyone else in this classroom cooperatively and respectfully.
• You are responsible not only for your own learning but for the learning
of your groupmates as well.

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

How to Divide Your Class into Groups Factors of Success

T he question is not how to divide the class but rather how quickly
and effectively the class will divide itself when the students are
asked to do so.
(1) Using first-day-of-school activities
(6) Enhancing positive expectations
(7) Involving the home
Some teachers have no problems dividing their students into groups.
(8) Dressing for success
When told to do so, the students do it quickly and quietly. Other
teachers have problems getting their students to divide into groups. (9) Using invitational learning
When told to do so, the students whine, complain, and even refuse to (10) Using the five appropriate words
work with other people. Why?
(11) Implementing effective classroom
Effective grouping is dependent on two major factors: management strategies
1. The class climate (12) Having the classroom ready with a
positive atmosphere
2. The explanation
(13) Introducing yourself properly
The Class Climate (14) Arranging and assigning seating
Quite simply, if the students dislike the class or the teacher or are not (15) Posting and starting
successful, grouping will be difficult. It is important that all the assignments immediately
determinants of successful student cooperation be in place before the (16) Taking roll quickly
class is divided into groups. ·
(18) Investing time on teaching the
The box to the right lists determining factors that may affect student discipline plan
cooperation. The number in parentheses before the item indicates the (20) Rehearsing procedures and routines
chapter in this book where more information can be found.
(21) Maximizing academic learning time
When students do not cooperate, the ineffective teacher helplessly
(22) Giving structured assignments with
wonders, "What am I supposed to do? " and looks for a quick fix to clear goals
resolve the crisis. There are no quick fixes in education. Implicit in the
"Factors of Success" list is the fact that it is the teacher who is (23) Explaining that tests are written to test
responsible for the success of the classroom. The effective teacher for mastery
knows this. (24) Implementing strategies for
cooperative learning

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 Lesson Mastery

Telling the students to break up into groups is easy if the students are
successful in class. It is th e responsibility of the teacher to facilitate this
success. In a successful classroom, the students respect the teacher's
Motivation
ability to move them quickly into group s for work.
Humans are born learners. Yet many classrooms
demotivate students to learn. II' The teacher 's job is to orch estrate all th e classroom factors so
that they function in h armony.
The primary reason for demotivation is THREAT.
Everybody BLOSSOMS and learns in a
nonthreatening, cooperative, and invitational II' The teach er is like th e conduc tor of an orch estra, th e cap tain of
environment. (See Chapters 9 and 24.) a ship , or the coach of a team.
Is your classroom one of threats or blossoms?
II' The teacher is a p roblem solver and a maker of decisions
THREATS: Teacher places the students in a
resp onsible for student success.
helpless position with meaningless assignments.
BLOSSOMS: Students have the power to II' The teach er is th e engineer of student success.
complete their assignments. (See Chapter 22.)
THREATS: Teacher has the power to give grades.
BLOSSOMS: Students have the power to earn The effective teacher has knowledge and control of
grades based on prior knowledge of lesson ALL THE FACTORS related to the effective classroom
criteria. (See Chapter 23.) that influence student success.
THREATS: Teacher can inflict punishment.
BLOSSOMS: Students can be taught how to be
responsible. (See Chapter 20.)
THREATS: Teacher threatens students with a
The brain does not need
disorganized environment that the students to be motivated any more than
cannot trust. the heart needs to be
BLOSSOMS: Students feel secure in an organized motivated to pump blood.
environment that they can trust. (See Chapters 20
and 24.) - Leslie Hart

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

The Explanation
How quickly students move into groups depends on how explicitly the
teacher explains how and why groups will be formed. "OK, divide into
groups of four" is not how groups are set up. Vague directions like this
are sure to provoke comments like these:
Can I work with Andrew?
Do I have to work with Charlotte?
How long do I have to stay in this group?
There is no need to solicit class input on grouping because there will be no
permanent groups in the class. Simply tell your students the following:
ti' Number of People in a Group: The class will be divided into groups
many times. Each time there is a need for a group, the size of the
group will depend on the nature of the activity. Some activities may
take two people; others may take four, eight, or whatever. Whatever
is the number needed, that will be the number ofpeople in the group.
Therefore, there is no need to ask if you can work with any
particular person because the groups are not fixed.
ti' Length of Time in a Group: Each time the class is divided into
groups, the length of the group activity will depend on the nature
of the activity. Some activities may take two minutes; others may
take two days or two weeks.
When the activiry is finished, the group will be disbanded Therefore,
there is no need to ask haw long you must be in a group. You will be
in a group until the activity is finished.
Prepare yourseljfor the career world, where you will be working
with many different combinations ofpeople on committees, in
groups, and on project teams for different lengths of time.

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 Lesson Mastery

Cooperative learning is not something that will happen overnight. It occurs

incrementally and requires time, patience, and constant reinforcement.
They Knew the Names of Only
Six Students In the early grades, teachers should begin by teaching procedures and
routines whereby the students move into groups quickly and quietly, speak
Here is part of a letter we received after softly, share the things they use, do their job, and take turns.
presenting a workshop to a group of student
teachers at a local college. Younger children will ask the teacher when activity directions are not
One of the student teachers tried something in understood. Older students will often not ask because they do not like t
her class to test out one ofyour ideas. She admit that they do not know. Or if they do ask each other, they will frequentl
handed out a blank seating chart to her ninth­ get a put-down response like, "What do you m ean you don't understand?
grade class and asked all the students to fill in Are you stupid or what? " So rather than admit "stupidity," they withdraw
the seating chart, giving first and last names. and do not participate, misbehave to distract from their not understanding,
Only about BO percent of the kids seemed to or ask to work with someone who will not attack their dignity.
have more than two-thirds of the names
correct. Many of them knew only first names,
Older students inherently like to work together, so the problem is not
and there were even a few students who could
name only 6 or Bstudents sitting right around
student participation or interaction. It is poor teacher instructions. When
them out of a class of 35. the directions, whether verbal or written, do not state what is to be done and
what is to be accomplished, the students will start to act up. The teacher
The letter was dated May 20, so these student must structure and write the activity for maximum understanding.
teachers were in a classroom that had been
together for nine months. In addition, there were
two teachers in the room, a cooperating teacher
and a student teacher. Yet at the end of the year, How quickly students move into groups
few of the students really knew one another. depends on how explicitly the teacher
explains the mechanics and responsibilities
When you have a situation like this one, students
are sure to misbehave, refuse to work of the group assignment.
cooperatively, and be reluctant to participate in
group activities.
When students refuse to work together, the
teacher may be to blame.

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

Who Is Placed in a Group?

D ividing the class into groups has nothing to do with the number
in a group. The number of people in a group depends on the
nature of the activity. What is important is who is placed in a group
and why you want the grouping done accordingly.

Cooperative groups should be heterogeneous in terms of

ability, sex, ethnicity, and other personal characteristics.

Studies show that students are more positive about one another when
they learn to work cooperatively, regardless of ability, handicap, or
ethnic background.

V Students who have cooperative skills are more able to appreciate

the viewpoint of others.

V They are more positive about taking part in controversy.

V They have better social skills.

V They have more positive expectations about working with others

than students from competitive settings.
Cooperative learning teaches the social skills necessary for
What you want for every student, especially for those with a lot of success in a global economy.
ability, is a cheering section helping and urging other students to work
to maximum capacity. And you have the high, medium, and low kids in
the same group, with the low kid cheering the high one on to boost the
group score so that all can get a better grade. The cooperative system
encourages everyone, regardless of ability, background, or handicap,
to work at top capacity.

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 Lesson Mastery

As students become more skilled in working together, they can practice

more sophisticated skills, such as these:
v' Asking for and giving help
v' Showing that they are interested in what others are saying
v' Talking about several solutions before choosing one
v' Criticizing ideas, not people
v' Looking for evidence before changing their mind
v' Asking questions to try to understand another point of view
Over the years in school, learning experiences become richer and richer,
and the students build a large repertoire of social skills that are essential in
the global economy. The global economy is an economy of diversity. It is
only from working with a diversity of people that students will learn the
skills needed in a world of diversity. These skills are learned when
students are grouped heterogeneously. There is nothing simple in such a
process, but the results are worth the effort.

What About the Student Who Does Not Work?

The number of people in a group must equal

the number of jobs in the group.

G roups are to be divided by the number of jobs, not by the number of

people. People do not go through life always working in, say, groups
of four. The task always determines the optimum number of people needed .

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

The reason some students do nothing or copy from other students is

that they do not have specific tasks or jobs. Determine the number of
students you need to accomplish an activity, divide the class accordingly,
and then spell out the assignments.
For instance, in a group of four
Student 1 is responsible for getting the materials and returning them
to the appropriate place when the day or period is over.
How to Dispense Materials
Student 2 is responsible for seeing that the steps of the activity in 15 Seconds
are followed.
Read about a method used to dispense materials at
Student 3 is responsible for making observations, recording data, and www.teachers.net/gazette/SEP02/wong.html.
taking minutes as the activity progresses.
Student 4 is responsible for overseeing the writing of the group report.
Being responsible does do not mean that the student does all the work.
Rather it means that the student is in charge of coordinating the task.
For instance, it may take several people to get all the materials, everyone
to help clean up, several to make observations, and everyone to
contribute to the group report.
V The teacher may not want to assign who does what job. If no The idea that people
working together toward
assignments are made, the students are to choose who does which job. a common goal can accomplish more
V If the students may choose who does which job, you may want to than people working by themselves
is a well-established principle
specify that they are not to do the same type of job as they did in
of social psychology.
the last activity.
V Have group procedures, responsibilities, and evaluation. (See the
sample activity on pages 262 and 263.)

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 Lesson Mastery

What Are the Benefits and Results of

Cooperative Learning?

What Determines an
Individual's Success? Most of the research indicates
that cooperative learning leads to higher
My daughter recently achievement for all students.
graduated from Michigan
Technological College and was
hired by IBM as a computer
scientist in the company's "think tank" in
Owego, New York.
T he research on cooperative learning has the longest history in
American social psychology. First done in 1897, over a century of
research has included hundreds of studies.
She was immediately placed into a group,
and the group was assigned projects. The There is probably more evidence validating the use of cooperative
success of each individual (higher pay, learning than there is for any other aspect of education-more than for
promotions, etc.) was dependent on the class size, retention, block scheduling, reading readiness, constructivism,
success of the GROUP to a significant extent! brain compatibility, and multiple intelligence. And the research applies as
-Dick Kyro much for teachers as it does for students.
Oak Park, Michigan
These are some examples of the findings from research on
cooperative learning:
Self-Directed
Work Teams V Many studies have shown positive effects for both high- and low-ability
The effective teacher prepares
students, dispelling the myth that high-achieving students will not
students for the world. Ineffective progress if they interact with students of lesser ability.
teachers discipline their students,
controlling their every action. V On retention tests, cooperative learners score at least as well as high
Effective teachers teach their achievers from competitive learning situations.
students how to be responsible to
appropriate procedures-how to V Cooperative learners use higher-quality reasoning strategies, higher­
succeed in self-directed work teams. level processing, and deeper thinking than isolated students.

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

ti' Cooperative learners develop the skills of leadership,

communication, decision making, and conflict management they
need for future success in school and in a career.
The NUMMI Story
ti' Cooperative learners develop a sense of interdependence. When the General Motors plant in Fremont,
Students learn to care about and become committed to others' California, closed down in 1982, it had the highest
success as well as their own. In a competitive classroom that absenteeism and lowest productivity levels of
lacks cooperative groups, students really have a stake in one any General Motors manufacturing facility.
another's failure . They quickly realize that it is easier for them to
It reopened in 1984 as New United Motor
get a higher grade if the other students perform less well. In an Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), a partnership
individualistic classroom, students have no stake in other students' between General Motors and Toyota. It is a
performance whatsoever. Each student works independently on United Auto Workers plant with 5,500 employees
his or her own agenda. What happens to the others is irrelevant. producing Toyota Corollas, Pontiac Vibes, Toyota
Voltzes, and Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks.
In cooperative groups, students have a vested interest in making
Its business style is vastly different from that of
sure that everyone does well. Anything they can do to help their other automotive factories:
group or groupmates learn the material better, retain it longer, get
a better grade on the test, or learn new skills will benefit them all. • It is based on the team concept,
They celebrate when other people learn. emphasizing participation, sharing of ideas,
and problem solving together.
ti' Cooperative learning produces committed relationships in which • Teams of four to eight, under a team
students really care about one another and provide assistance and leader, are responsible for all the jobs in a
help when needed. It promotes more positive peer relationships, given area on the production line.
better social skills, more social support, and, partly for that reason, • All team members learn all the jobs in a
higher self-esteem. Students like the class better, they're more given team and rotate among them.
interested in the subject and one another, and they're more Today the NUMMI factory is among the most
self-disciplined. productive in North America and placed among
the top three plants for quality six times
between 1994 and 2002, according to J. D.
Power and Associates.

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 Lesson Mastery

V In cooperative learning, students take more responsibility for helping

one another with assignments and problems. That alleviates some of
the stress on the teacher to maintain order and to keep the student!'!
on task.

V Cooperative learning improves self-confidence for many students.

Because the groupmates become responsible for one another's
learning and have a vested interest in the others ' success, all students
tend to be more successful. Success builds self-confidence. By
working together, the students find out that their ideas can be useful
to others, and they become more self-confident.

How to Make Cooperative Learning Work

The Four Basic Elements Needed to

Make Cooperative Learning Work
1. Positive interdependence
2. Social skills
3. Individual accountability
4. Group evaluation

1. Positive Interdependence. Interdependence refers to the relationships

that individuals have to others ' success in a group. For cooperative
learning to be successful, the students really have to believe that they
are in it together and to care for one another's learning.

In cooperative groups, each student has a responsibility to the team.

Goals or tasks are structured so that the students concern themselve
with the performance of all members of the group, not just their own

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

performance. When students understand that they are part of an

interdependent group, they usually find ways to work together for the
benefit of all.

2. Social Skills. The basis of cooperative learning is social skills that

help students share leadership, communicate effectively, build trust,
and manage conflict. Generally, the students do not come to the
classroom with those skills; the skills must be defined clearly and
taught in much the same way that academic subjects are taught.

Lots of verbal face-to-face interaction, explaining, arguing, resolving of

conflicts, elaborating, consensus forming , and summarizing will occur
and should be encouraged.

3. Individual Accountability. Each member of the cooperative group is

held accountable for the performance of all. It must be clear that
every member of the group has to learn, that there's no free ride. No
one can sit on the sidelines and let others do the work; everyone has
to be in there, pulling equal weight.

The teacher can stress accountability by calling on one groupmate

at random to give the group's report at the end of a task If the student
can report the group 's conclusions, procedures, or solutions, the
group has been successful. If the student called on cannot report the
group's results, the group, not the individual, suffers. Therefore, it
becomes the group's responsibility, not the teacher's, to ensure
everyone's participation.

4. Group Evaluation. Periodically, the groups must assess how well

they are working together and how they could do better.
The quality of the work and the productivity of the group
improve when students work together.

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 Lesson Mastery
~ -------~--------------~
How to Structure a Cooperative Learning.Activity

S tructure your lessons for cooperative learning. Industry spends

millions of dollars to find and train people to work cooperatively. The
effective teacher takes time to teach and train students to work cooperatively

Consider calling the groups

support groups and each 1. Specify the group NAME.
member of the support group
a support buddy. 2. Specify the group SIZE.
3. State the PURPOSE, MATERIALS, and STEPS of the activity.

�
4. Teach the PROCEDURES.
......
5. Specify and teach the COOPERATIVE SKILLS needed.
6. Insist on INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILI1Y for the work
of the group.
7. Teach EVALUATION METHODS the students can use to
determine how successfully they have worked together.
I

1. Specify the Group Name. Want something better than calling your
groups teams, squads, or groups?
Learning together is epitomized by the concept of a support group.
There are support groups for people trying to lose weight, stop
addictions, overcome fears, and learn parenting skills. Support groups
exist for single parents, senior citizens, abused children, battered wives,
and war veterans. Power groups, or business support groups, help such
people as businesswomen achieve leadership roles and assistants
become executives.
A support group is formed by people, with like needs and goals, who
join together to care for and help one another solve problems and achieve
success. Support groups in the classroom are formed for the same reason.

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

2. Specify the Group Size. The size of the group is a factor of how many
jobs are needed to complete the activity. (See "What About the
Student Who Does Not Work? " on page 252.)

3. State the Purpose, Materials, and Steps of the Activity. The students
must be assigned an activity that is structured enough so that they
know what is to be done and how. (See the sample activity on pages
262 and 263.)

4. Teach the Procedures. Here are four procedures for you to consider
with your students. They should be posted, taught, modeled,
rehearsed, and monitored. (See Chapter 20.)

II You are responsible for your own job and the results of the
group. (In the working world, you are responsible for your own PROCEDURES DURING GROUP WORK
1. You are responsible for your own job and
job and the results of the people you work with.)
the results of the group.
2. If you have a question, ask your
II If you have a question, ask your support buddies. Do not ask SUPPORT BUDDIES. Do not ask your teacher.
your teacher. (In the working world, you do not raise your hand 3. You must be willing to help if a
for help. You seek, ask, and research because you are expected to SUPPORT BUDDY asks for help.
act on your own initiative.) 4. If no one can answer a question, agree on a
single question and appoint one person to
II You must be willing to help if a support buddy asks you for help. raise a hand for help from the teacher.
(In the working world, you are expected to apply teamwork skills.)

11 If no one can answer a question, agree on a consensus question

and appoint one person to raise a hand for help from the
teacher. (In the working world, negotiating and reaching
agreements are the keys to success.)

5. Specify and Teach the Cooperative Skills Needed. Teach, model,

and monitor the group procedures for the sample activity on
pages 262 and 263.

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 Lesson Mastery

6. Hold the Individuals Accountable for the Work of the Team. The teach r
acts as consultant to the group after setting the objectives, assignments,
and procedures. Problems are turned back to the group for resolution .
That aspect of cooperative learning is often difficult at first, but it is
The Honda Story
crucial to the success of cooperative learning in the classroom.
Honda has a factory in Marysville, Ohio. The
company employs more than 13,000 The support groups are to write reports cooperatively and give team
"associates" (not workers). presentations. The students are accountable for the quality of their
group work and the results of their work.
The associates work in groups. The procedure
is for each group to submit complaints and
suggestions to management at the end of The support group will get a group grade, and that grade will be each
each shift. In the United States, management individual's grade, so it is important that each member of the group
generally does not want to hear about problems, support the others' achievement efforts.
and workers do not want to get involved
with problems. 7. Teach Evaluation Methods the Students Can Use to Determine How
The Honda procedure requires answers to three Successfully They Have Worked Together. Tell your students to write
questions: down the group procedures. (See page 263.) After each procedure,
state whether the support group followed the procedure most of the
1. What was the problem? time, sometimes, or not at all.
2. What did you do about the problem?
3. What is your suggestion for long-term
For each procedure, have the support groups discuss how they can
solution of the problem?
improve their cooperative skills. The procedures that truly need to be
Honda works on quality through empowering discussed are those that received a rating of "most of the time." By
workers, within groups, to solve problems, to being aware of why they followed the procedures most of the time,
search for ways of improvement so that the they can review and apply their successful ways of working together
group can achieve excellence.
to improving the procedures rated lower.
Overall, the average Japanese employee
submits 24 suggestions a year, compared
with 0.14 per U.S. worker (that's the same as
$24 versus 14 cents-no comparison in a
competitive environment).

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

The Benefits of a Structured Cooperative Activity

V Peer pressure severely limits achievement in many schools. LEARNING

Students who do not do well scorn those who do well, and is an individual
these students join together, socially, to limit each other's success. activity but not a
In cooperative classrooms, by contrast, students encourage their
teammates to do well because they all benefit. solitary one.

II' All members of the group share leadership responsibilities. It is more effective
Each member has a job to do, and the group has no formal leader.
when it takes place
II' In their groups, the students focus on both the academic within a supportive
assignments and the skills they need to work together. They community of
review the success of their assignment and their cooperation, learners.
and they try to improve both.

II' The teacher benefits from cooperative learning because the

students take more responsibility for classroom management.
Hands-on participation requires that the students interact with
the materials, and cooperative learning is structured so that the
students, not the teacher, manage the materials.

The greater the time students

work together and the greater
the responsibilities
students take for their work,
the greater the learning.

Working together equals

greater learning.

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 Lesson Mastery

This is an example of a
Sample Activity
cooperative learning activity.
In this activity, you will be working in support groups of four. Your teacher will choose the
Substitute your own activity. members of the support group. The reason you work in support groups is because when
Begin by rewriting sections: you discuss new ideas with your classmates, you understand the ideas better.
background, problem, Sometimes you will work with your friends, and sometimes not. No matter who your
materials, and activity steps. support buddies are, your responsibility is to help one another understand and complete
Apply the example to your the activity. This is why you are called support buddies.
own subject matter. Your teacher will explain what jobs need to be done. Either the teacher will choose or you
will be asked to choose who does which job.
You need to work together and talk about your assignment so that each member of the support
group understands what your group has done and why. When it is time for your support
group to report to the class, your teacher will call on only one member of your group. That
member will explain the support group's results, so make sure that you all know what is
happening before you get called on. When your support group looks good, you look good!

How Do Propellers Work?

Background
Some airplanes and helicopters fly because of propellers. As the shape and pitch (angle) of
the blade change, different results are obtained.
Problem
How many different ways can you design a propeller blade?
How does each design perform?
What is your evaluation of each design?
Support Group Jobs
Equipment Manager: Your job is to obtain the materials needed for the activity and to
make sure that they are returned to the appropriate place at the end of the designated time.
Facilitator: Your job is to make sure that the group is following each step of the activity
carefully and correctly.
Recorder: Your job is to observe, take minutes, and record data. You need to see that the
support group has the proper forms to record the results of the activity as they occur.
Reporter: Your job is to coordinate the writing of the group report.
Materials
Binder paper, scissors, and a paper clip

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 How to Get Your Students to Work Cooperatively

Activity Steps
1. Cut a piece of binder paper across its width into 2-inch strips.
2. Cut and fold the paper as shown in Fig. 1.
3. Hold and release the paper as shown in Fig. 2.
4. Try different versions of the helicopter.
5. Observe and record each result.
Support Group Procedures Fig. 1.
Move into your groups quickly and quietly.
Stay with your group in your area.
Do your job.
Help each other.
Follow the Activity Steps listed above.
Support Group Responsibilities
1. The facilitator needs to make sure that everyone has read and discussed the activity
before beginning to work. Do not start until everyone knows the purpose of the activity,
what needs to be done (Activity Steps), and what everyone needs to do (Support Group
Procedures and Responsibilities).
2. The equipment manager needs to see that the materials are collected.
3. The recorder needs to see that a record page is set up on which to record what is to be
observed. This can be a form for taking minutes, a table for recording numbers, or a
chart for writing observations. Do not start until the record page has been set up.
4. The facilitator takes the group through the activity steps, as a moderator would take a
meeting through its agenda.
5. At all times, the members of the support group must cooperatively and respectfully help
each other by following the Activity Steps and the Support Group Procedures.
6. The support group must help the recorder record the results of the activity.
7. The reporter coordinates the writing of the group report. Make sure that everyone in
the support group can explain the activity: Its purpose, steps, and results.
When everyone can explain the purpose and results of the activity, all the members of
the group should sign their name to the group report.
Thank you!

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