Kagan Cooperative LearningBy, Dr. Spencer Kagan and Miguel Kagan

Chapter 12: PIES

Let’s Take An Up Close Look at

Not that kind of

PIES Silly…

Cooperative learning when properly implemented, is a powerful instructional approach resulting in a spectrum of positive outcomes. Notice the caveat: When properly implemented. Research, theory, and years of implementation have drawn the conclusion that consistent success depends on four basic principles:

Positive Interdependence

Individual Accountability

Equal Participation

Simultaneous Interaction

Group Work is NOT Cooperative Learning!

The PIES principles distinguish cooperative learning from group work. If any of the PIES principles are not present, we are merely doing group work. The PIES principles define true learning. Group work produces hit or miss results. True cooperative learning produces consistent gains for all learners.

Positive interdependence is the most well-established principle in the study ofcooperation. When positive interdependence is in place, individuals are almostcertain to cooperate. In the absence of positive interdependence, they may ormay not cooperate.

Positive correlation: Are students on the same side?Question 1:

Question 2:Interdependence: Does the task require working together?

Question 1:Positive correlation: Are students on the same side?

• When there is a positive correlation among outcomes, participants almost certainly work together. They cooperate, help each other, and encourage each other. In class, if I know your success will somehow benefit me, naturally I hope you will do well and I will encourage, help, and tutor you.

• When there is a positive correlation among outcomes, we sense we’re on the same side.

Question 2:Interdependence: Does the task require working together?

The word interdependence refers to how the task is structured. If a task is structured so no one of us can do it alone, but we can do it by working together, then we are interdependent.

Strong Interdependence:The contribution of each team member is necessary for the

success of the team. The task is impossible without help.

Intermediate Interdependence:

The contribution of each team member does contribute to the success of the team, but a team

member could succeed on his/her own.

Week Interdependence:The contribution of each

team member may contribute to the success of

the team.

Degrees of Interdependence

Positive Interdependence Increases Cooperation

The basketball

player passes the ball so a

teammate can shoot a basket, and their team

is more likely to

win.

The author gives her

paper to the editor,

knowing the editor can

catch errors the author could not.

The workplace team pools knowledge

and brainstorms solutions to

come up with a better

procedure or product.

A husband and wife combine

their money to buy a house

neither alone could

afford.

None of

us is as

smart as

all of us.

3 Things To Be Careful With1. Negative Interdependence Among Teams: Rewarding top teams based on performance may create positive interdependence within teams, but create the opposite among teams. All teams achieving a predetermined goal can be rewarded.

2. Pitfalls of Team Rewards: If not used carefully, extrinsic team rewards may erode the intrinsically rewarding teamwork process.

3. Group Grades: There are so many problems with group grades that they should never be used. Chapters 15 and 16 provide better and fair ways to grade and motivate students.

T.E.A.M.Together

Everyone

Achieves

More

Structures create positive interdependence. They include shared team goals so students cooperate for mutual benefit.

Positive interdependence is created by situations in which teammates pool knowledge or skills for mutual benefit.

Tasks that call for a range of knowledge or skills that no single individual possesses encourage mutual helping.

Tasks• Make the task challenging, so that the sheer volume or difficulty of the task requires the participation and cooperation of all• Division of labor is used to accomplish

difficult tasks. Assign roles to each student. Teammates then come together to synthesize their combined knowledge into a presentation

• Limit each student’s access to specific resources to structure for cooperation

Rules and Structures Foster Positive InterdependenceRules too can increase interdependence. For example, to increase helping and encouragement, we might institute a rule that states the team cannot progress to a new learning center or task until all teammates have completed a task or have displayed mastery.

Structures Create InterdependenceMethod Sample StructureVaried Knowledge or Skills Jigsaw

Challenging Task Team Projects

Division of Labor Co-op Co-op

Roles 4S Brainstorming

Resource Access Team Projects

Rules Talking Chips

In the cooperative classroom, there is an “I” in team, and that “I” stands forIndividual Accountability. In the cooperative classroom, students work togetheras a team to create and to learn, but ultimately every individual student is responsible for his or her own performance.

Individual accountability boosts achievement.

Question 3:Is individual, public performance required?

Question 3:Is individual, public performance required?

Individual accountability is created by putting in place three components:Three Components of Individual Accountability

1. Individual. The performance is done without help.

2. Public. Someone witnesses the performance.

3. Required. The performance is required.

Accountability To Whom? For What?

Students may be accountable to a partner, a team, the class, and/or the teacher. Reports home create accountability to parents. In Numbered Heads Together, before students put their heads together, each student independently writes his or her best answer to share with the team. Thus, each is held accountable to teammates. Further, when a student’s number is called, that student must share the team’s answer, so they are held accountable to the teacher and the class as well.

Depending on the structure and the content, students are held accountable for different things. For example, in Paraphrase Passport, the right to speak is earned by paraphrasing the previous speaker. This structure holds students accountable for empathetic listening. Talking Chips hold students accountable for participating. In a Rally Table of prime numbers, learners are held accountable for listing prime numbers.

Accountability To Whom?

Accountability For What?

Me Before We• Students write own responses prior to teaming up

• Students create own products to share with classmates

• Structures: Showdown, Numbered Heads Together, Placemat Consensus

Me During We

• Color-code individual contributions

• Assign mini topics

• Students fill in own worksheets, create own product

• Structures: Rally Coach, Team Mind-Mapping, Talking Chips, Jot Thoughts

• Students turn in individual worksheets

• Students take tests, quizzes after team interaction

• Structures: Team-Pair-Solo, Numbered Heads Together Me After We

Accountability Requires SupportIndividual accountability must be coupled with positive interdependence;otherwise it will backfire.

A student can be held accountable by calling on them publicly, but without the support, theycan fail publicly also and may soon dread class,content and the teacher.

Learning and change come about best by a combination of pressure and support.

The “E” of PIES is the simplest of the four principles: We structure so thatstudents participate about equally. Participation is an integral part of the learning process. Students learn by interacting with the content and withfellow students. For equitable educational outcomes, we need participationto be relatively equal.

Question 4:Is participation approximately equal?

Question 4:Is participation approximately equal?

Structure for equal participation. It does not occur magically. Six approachesto equalize participation are: 1) turn taking, 2) time allocation, 3) think andwrite time, 4) rules, 5) individual accountability, and 6) roles.

Six Approaches to Equalizing Participation

Approach How Sample Structures

Turn Taking Every student receives an equal turn Round Table

Time Allocation Every student receives the same amount of time.

Timed Pair Share

Think Time Students are given the opportunity to formulate own ideas.

Think-Pair-Share

Rules Rules of engagement establish guidelines for equal participation.

Talking Chips

Individual Accountability Students are held accountable for participation

Showdown

Role Assignment Students participate by filling a unique or rotating role.

4S Brainstorming

Active engagement increases student learning. If students are off task, they are less likely to learn. If students are only occasionally engaged, they learn lessthan when they are regularly engaged. Simultaneous interaction is the mostpowerful tool we have for increasing active engagement.

Question 5:What percent of students are overtly interactingat once?

Question 5:What percent of students are overtly interacting at once?

A simple look at the mathematics reveals the staggering difference in amountof overt active engagement during traditional instruction and cooperativelearning structures…

Simultaneous Interaction Increases Engagement and Participation

Structure Percent Actively

Engaged at Once

Student Participation

Time per Hour

Whole Class Q&A 1 in 30 (3.33%) 2 minutes per student

Round Robin 1 in 4 (25%) 15 minutes per student

Rally Robin 1 in 2 (50%) 30 minutes per student

We can engage more students at a time, and thus get more accomplished more quickly.

Time for Three-Minute Student PresentationsIn a class of 30 students

Structure Required Class TimeStudent Presentation

Student presents to class.90 minutes

Timed Round RobinStudent presents to teammates

12 minutes

Timed Pair ShareStudent presents to partner

6 minutes

Simultaneous Response Modes and Sharing

Answer Boards

Choral Practice

Thumbs Up or Down

Greater engagement and accountability are achieved with simultaneous responses vs. calling on one student.

Addressing Objections to Simultaneity

I OBJECT!

OBJECTION: The teacher won’t hear everything and wrong answers will be said

Solutions:1. Team Answer Slates2. Students check answers with another

classroom source3. Teacher walks around for authentic

assessment

The probability of a correction opportunity is far greater with simultaneous interaction

Cooperative learning consistently produces powerful gainswhen the research-based and classroom-proven PIES

principles are in place. Kagan Structures implement PIES.Any teacher can easily learn some simple structures and

be confident he/she is implementing good cooperative learning.