Group Work that Works: Student Collaboration for 21st Century Success

Promote cooperative learning more effectively by transforming your classroom into a learning community. Experienced K–12 educators Paul J. Vermette and Cynthia L. Kline offer their Dual Objective Model as a tool for improving your students’ academic achievement and problem-solving skills, while encouraging their social and emotional development.

You’ll discover how to:

• assign meaningful tasks that require students to rely on one another;
• build efficient teams, purposefully monitor group dynamics, and assess group projects effectively;
• engage students in schoolwork while developing crucial career and life skills;
• motivate students to see the importance of personal and group responsibility;
• maximize the benefits of student diversity in your classroom.

Emphasizing teamwork, persistence, communication, self-regulation, and empathy in a complex, diverse, and technological setting, these strategies can be easily incorporated into any curriculum. The book is filled with vignettes and sample exercises to help you apply the ideas to your own classroom. Each chapter includes a list of "Big Ideas," which invites you to consider how these strategies can evolve over time.

Paul J. Vermette has served as a teacher and supervisor of social studies in public and parochial schools in New York and New Jersey and has been a Professor of Education at Niagara University since 1985.

Cynthia L. Kline is an independent educational consultant and business professional serving both domestic and international K–20 settings.