Cooperative Learning Theory And Practice Of Physics Classroom Teaching

Cooperative Learning, referred to in the National Council's Decisions on theReform and Development of Basic Education issued by the National Council on May 29,2001(by PRC[2001]No.1), drew attention from schools at all levels all over China in ashort time. A good many teachers showed great enthusiasm in this teaching and learningmethod regarded as "one of the greatest educational reforms in modern times" byfamous contemporary American critics Alice and Futz . Cooperative Learning has greatinfluence on education for it has become a well-known educational term and has beenstudied by many researchers and from different angles. I try applying this method tophysics teaching in a rural junior middle school. The first part introduces the effects andnecessities of Cooperative Learning. The second part reviews the relevant theoreticalperspectives. In this part, the ways to enforce individual behaviours are derived fromnew behaviorism: first, individuals can find whether their behaviors are conformed withothers through imitation in a group;second, individual behaviors can be enforced bystrengthening individual effects in a group. Cooperative learning is most influenced byconstructivism which emphasizes scientific knowledge is the unity of objectiveness andsubjectiveness and the results from combined action of nature and science. However, wecannot make a word-for-word copy of Cooperative Learning into physics teaching. Weshould transform traditional teaching methods using the advantages of CooperativeLearning. When is it appropriate for the students to cooperate? How do the teachersprepare the lessons and give instructions? If the problems of making appropriate use ofthe materials cannot be solved, the instructor cannot play a full role in cooperativelearning and we cannot achieve satisfactory results by using this learning method. Thusin the thesis the Inductive Method from H?Taba is introduced and is combined withphysics classroom teaching to solve the problem of the dependence of physics onlearning materials and the problem of teachers using the materials obtained by studentsto provoke the students' thoughts. Only by making full use of the learning materials andorganizing those materials in a proper way can the students' thoughts be actuallydeveloped. And in the last part, the effects of Cooperative Learning after short-termtraining are verified by experiments.Cooperative Learning is an effective learning method that can be applied to physicsclassroom teaching, but we should be aware not to go to another extreme. The best wayis to use it with great care and in a appropriate way to improve our teaching quality.