USE OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES

INTERACTION AND PARTICIPATION IN CHILD CARE CENTER

The proposed study will investigate the research problem of whether the introduction of cooperative learning techniques and activities at a child care center will increase the levels of interaction and participation of a group of elementary school students (ages 9 and 10 years) who attend the center's after school program. Before reviewing the literature supportive of the notion that the introduction of a cooperative learning program will assist in improving students interaction and participation at the center, it is helpful to first review the child care setting itself, the investigator's educational role at the center, and the evidence suggesting that elementary school students are in need of improvement in the areas of interaction and participation at the center.

Child Care Setting, Investigator's Role and Evidence For Problem

The Child Care setting in which the study will be conducted is a 20 staff member public school, inner-city facility serving 51 elementary school students, ages six through ten, in an after-school program. These students also attend the center during summer and holidays.

The investigator is an administrator at this center whose responsibilities include developing/implementing curriculum; coordinating staff development; establishing parent and personnel partnerships and youth organizations, budget planning, and fund-raising a

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ration and communication. In the last two decades, cooperative learning has been the focus of much educational research. With respect to the foregoing, Johnson and Johnson (1989) have noted that cooperative learning strategies to be instrumental in producing gains in students': (l) academic achievement; (2) ability to understand others' perspective; (3) social and cooperative skills; (4) motivation to learn; (5) emotional involvement in learning; (6) attitudes toward school and teachers; (7) psychological health and sense of interdependence with others; and (8) attitudes toward peers. In other words, cooperative learning offers an educational method that addresses many of those behaviors of interest to the child care center. It is helpful here to review those studies related to this study's interest in a more indepth way. Cooperative learning and student achievement. One intention of this study is to increase students' academic performance as evidenced by their report cards. Therefore, it is helpful to examine how cooperative learning has worked to increase academic achievement. In this regard, it can be noted that one area of student achievement that has been frequently examined with respect to cooperative learning is
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4142
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

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