What’s the best way to set up cooperative learning groups for labs and other activities? How often should I change the groups? I’d also like to assign roles for group members, but I need some examples.
— Doug, Henderson, Nevada
Cooperative learning is a strategy supported by a wealth of research. The term often reflects a continuum of approaches, from generic “group work” to more structured activities. (Use the phrase in an Internet search to find resources such as Why Use Cooperative Learning? and Cooperative Learning.
There is no single or “best” way to set up groups. This is a great opportunity for action research as you try different configurations and note which ones seem to work better for your students. Consider these questions:
How many should be in a group? Groups of four seem to be effective in my experience. It’s easy in a triad for one student to be ignored, more than four is a crowd at lab tables, and in a pair there is the issue of what happens when one of the students is absent.
How should the groups be structured? This is where you’ll need to do some experimentation, because each class is different.

How often should the groups change? Changing groups for each activity allows students to get to know others, but students also learn if they don’t get along, it doesn’t matter—the group will change next time and they don’t need to resolve any difficulties. I would usually try to keep the groups intact for a unit. This also saved time, because the students knew who their partners were and which lab table was theirs.
Setting roles is a key component of cooperative learning so students share the responsibility for learning. The roles may vary from task to task: group leader, presenter, data recorder, measurer, equipment manager, liaison (to ask questions of the teacher or other teams), artist, online researcher, questioner, timekeeper, notetaker. The literature on cooperative learning describes other roles. Have job descriptions for each role (as checklists or on the bulletin board), and ask students to describe how they and their teammates did their jobs (this could be a exit activity). Rotate the roles so students have a variety of experiences.
To keep the groups focused and on-task, be sure that students understand the expectations for the project or investigation. Share the rubric ahead of time. Monitor the groups as they work, eavesdropping on their discussions and observing their interactions (this can be a formative assessment). Cooperative learning models emphasize the importance of both groupwork and individual accountability. You could have the group create some parts of a report together (perhaps in their notebooks or with a class Wiki or GoogleDoc page) and then have each student write his or her own conclusion or summary. Some teachers hold each student be responsible for one part of a project, evaluating each component separately and then assigning a holistic evaluation for the entire project.
You may have students who do not have a high level of interpersonal skills. Start with brief and highly structured activities. Model cooperative behavior, and work with them on what types of language is appropriate in their groups. And remember there are times when cooperative learning is effective, times when large group instruction is appropriate, and times when you want students working independently.
For more information on how other science teachers are using this strategy, go to the NSTA Learning Center to search for articles on cooperative learning.