Do cooperative activities enhance individual understanding?
Arguments for cooperative learning and teamwork come from two rather different sources: first, from those (primarily in the education world) who view these activities as effective strategies for learning mathematical reasoning and second, from those (primarily in the business world) who view cooperative activities as essential for productive employees [SCANS, 1991]. Advocates envision mathematics classes as communities where students engage in collaborative mathematical practice both with each other and with their teachers [Silver, Kilpatrick, & Schlesinger, 1990]. In such classes students would regularly engage in authentic forms of mathematical practice by inventing strategies, arguing about approaches, and justifying their work. Parents often object to educators’ rationale for teamwork, since they view mathematics as an ideal subject in which individual accomplishment can be objectively measured and rewarded. They worry both that children who are above average will be held back by s
