Aimed at increasing higher level and critical thinking skills, professional and social skill development, and at engaging students in ownership of their learning, Cooperative Learning (CL) occurs when small groups of students work together to achievea common objective. Through this qualitative examination, student reports revealed three dominant emergent themes related to the CL approach: "Real World" Preparation, Group Dynamics, and Variety Desired. Students wrote that the course described here waschallenging and helped prepare them for future careers in which they would be required to work in groups to solve complex problems. In line with the instructor's goals, the CL environment appeared to simulate the challenges associated with group work ina professional setting while providing students feedback on their performance and opportunities to change their behavior in a supportive atmosphere. While student satisfaction was high in the course, they also desired a variety of teaching methods in the classroom (e.g. hands-on activities, guest speakers, whole class discussion), suggesting the CL approach should be paired with additional teaching strategies to optimize learning outcomes. Cooperative Learning could be used in a variety of courses to provide students structured opportunities to learn from each other and to improve their problem-solving abilities.
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