No student can piggyback on the work of others. Cooperative groups are heterogeneous in terms of ability, gender, ethnicity, and other personal characteristics. All members of the group have shared leadership responsibilities. Each member is important. There is no formal group leader.
Students focus on social skills as well as the academic assignment.
They review the success of both. The teacher acts as an initiator and consultant. Problems are turned back to the group to resolve. The teachers provides feedback to the groups on how well they are working together. The emphasis is on student to student communication rather than teacher to student.