by:
  Joan Maloof

  Summary

To me, the real beauty of the jigsaw method is that each individual begins with a paper that is, by their admission, foreign and confusing. Most likely the paper is from a journal they have never seen, and it is written for professionals in an unfamiliar specialty. Students arrive in class having read the paper, but with no self-confidence about their real understanding of it. After the students have met with the other experts, however, and after they have discussed the paper with their teammates, there is a feeling of understanding and confidence in the room.

Of the 37 students who evaluated the course on a 5-point Likert scale:

• 76% rated the jigsaw method as more effective than traditional college instruction, for understanding the content of the journal articles
  
  
• 84% rated the jigsaw method as more effective than reading on their own, for understanding the content of the journal articles
  
  
• 84% rated the interactions with their classmates as having a higher quality when using the jigsaw method, compared to traditional college instruction
  
  
• 84% rated the jigsaw method as more enjoyable than traditional college instruction
  
  
• 73% would prefer the jigsaw method if they took another course in which many of the readings were from the primary literature

The magic of this approach is that they have done it themselves. Other than defining a few of the terms when I hand out the paper, I do not discuss the paper at all. Students cannot be passive learners and wait to hear what I say about the paper; they must actively seek an understanding, and using the jigsaw approach they are successful in doing so. I think the most important lessons from this technique do not come from the content of the papers. The most important lessons here are that even difficult material can be learned without a teacher, and that reading and comprehending articles from primary sources may require extra time and attention.

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