The Johnsons are especially well suited to work together in this field. David is a professor of educational psychology, specializing in social psychology, at the University of Minnesota. As for Roger, after teaching several years at the elementary school level, he's now a professor of curriculum and instruction, specializing in science education, also at the University of Minnesota. As codirectors of the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota, the Johnsons have led hundreds of workshops demonstrating cooperative learning techniques and have performed extensive research on the topic. Cooperation in the College Classroom.
Most educators know that cooperative learning means having students work in small groups.
But in one of your books, you write that there is a difference between simply putting students in a small group to learn and cooperative learning. Actually there's a vast difference. Just placing students in physical proximity does not ensure cooperation. In fact, what you often find is that students will continue to compete with each other within the group. You also often find dysfunctional groups where only one person cares about the work.