Cooperative learning is an educational strategy that breaks the classroom up into small groups of students tasked with accomplishing a common goal. Instead of simply absorbing information from the teacher, small group work gives students the responsibility to seek out and share information on a given subject. Each individual in the group is generally given a specific role, such as: recorder, presenter or facilitator. This teaches students to work collaboratively for mutually beneficial results.
Both students and teachers must prepare themselves to engage in a fruitful class discussion. Teachers assign specific readings or learning activities for students to complete on their own. The class then comes together to discuss what they have learned in an in depth manner. Teachers should ask open-ended questions to stimulate classroom discussion. For instance, ask, "What did you learn from the poem you just read?" instead of asking, "What year was this poem written in and who authored it?"
Students are encouraged to learn sweeping academic principles via real life experience in the case study method. For instance, students learning about global environmental threats may be encouraged to discuss environmental issues that plague their very own school or local community. Students can more aptly wrap their minds around information when it hits close to home.
Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and problem solving on a high intellectual level. To implement this educational strategy, teachers can bring in various news reports about a current hot topic in the media. After reading the various articles, students can discuss how and why each separate new report is slanted or biased in its presentation. This strategy teaches students to think for themselves, instead of naively believing everything they are told, irrespective of the source from which the information comes.
Teachers can invite students to do a Google search on whatever subject they are about to teach, and let them supplement the lecture with information they have gleaned via the Internet. Students can use a video camera to create a short film instead of writing the traditional essay for course credit. A small group can create an iPod playlist to express their sentiments on poverty or another global social studies concern. Technology can enhance a student's learning greatly by helping him to process information in a holistic manner, as opposed to simply regurgitating facts and figures on a test.