by:
  Joan Maloof

  Communication, Accountability and Knowledge

When the expert groups were finished with their sections they turned in a copy of their four major points to me, and they returned to their permanent teams to teach their teammates about that section. Again, it was a pleasure to watch each expert, in turn, teaching their teammates and answering questions. Even if students were naturally quiet, and did not take a leadership role in their meeting with the other experts, once they returned to their home team they had critical information that the group depended on them to share. By using this technique even quiet students had to communicate to the team. Although this may be challenging for introverted students, it is less intimidating than speaking in front of the entire class.

All students were fully aware that there would be a quiz on the reading at the end of the class period. The upcoming quiz helped keep them on task. Most teams were finished with their reviews after twenty minutes.

Quizzes were given while students were still sitting with their teams. I frequently asked a question about the main hypothesis being tested, a question about the methodology, and a question about the results. Often I asked questions about the graphs or the tables, encouraging students to pay attention to those critical components in scientific writing. I also asked questions about how the paper related to our text. Individual accountability is an important component of cooperative learning, therefore each student had to complete and turn in his or her own quiz, which was then individually graded.

Having frequent quizzes instead of infrequent major exams reduced the test taking anxiety experienced by some students. I found that using the jigsaw method also dramatically improved attendance. Students didn’t want to miss a class in which the journal article was handed out, they didn’t want to disappoint teammates by not being available as an expert on their section, and, finally, they did not want to miss the points from the quiz.

• Introduction
• Primary Sources and Course Design
• Using the Jigsaw Method
• Communication, Accountability and Knowledge
• Summary
• Appendix A
• References
• print version