A topic is assigned by the teacher and divided into pieces or parts among individual students or groups. Students share and bring the pieces together. Students use the research process to explore their assigned part.
Students report back to their group to share and extend their knowledge.
Entire group participates in a culminating experience to explain patterns and trends across the pieces. As a whole group, students communicate and present their knowledge as an exhibition, written paper, video, multimedia project, science fair project, history day project, world wide web page, etc. Students working on an engaging problem are interested learners. Students learn to work effectively as a group in a facilitated learning environment. Peer groups develop social skills and behaviors.