A teacher assigned each student in the class to a six-member group to work on a lesson. Each group is assigned to a section of the text chapter. The teacher then reassigns each group member to another group in which each student knows about the same

Question

section of the chapter. This group reviews together; then each member returns to her or his original group. What type of classroom activity is this? Explain how the characteristics of the scenario described above correspond to the defining features of the method you identified.
Describe one change the teacher could make in this lesson while maintaining the same method.
Indicate one way in which this lesson reflects a constructivist approach to learning.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The teacher has involved the class in a Jigsaw cooperative learning activity. In Jigsaw, students are assigned to six-member teams to work on academic material that has been broken down into sections. Each team member reads her or his section. Next, members of different teams who have studied the same sections meet in expert groups to discuss their section. Then the students return to their teams to teach their teammates about the section.
The teacher could assign each group member a poem or article, instead of a chapter section, and still follow the jigsaw procedure.
Active learning and social learning are two constructivist approaches seen in Jigsaw.