Ideally, all students are present for each day of class, learn the material, absorb the details, and are ready to demonstrate their understanding on the unit assessment. Reality, however, is that there are gaps in their knowledge that need to be discovered and filled first. The jigsaw grouping technique gives students an opportunity to review one subset of material with their peers first and then share and teach that piece to others.
Understanding the Jigsaw Technique
The jigsaw is a cooperative learning technique developed in the 1970s by Professor Elliot Aronson and his students. Originally developed to reduce racial tension in newly desegregated classrooms, the jigsaw soon proved its value as a learning tool that both promotes a positive classroom environment and improves students academically.
Students are first divided into small groups with an appointed leader. Next, the group is given a subset of the material which is then divided amongst the group members. Students are provided time to read through the directions and make sure they understand the objectives. Then, students form expert groups by gathering with their peers who have the same subset and spending time with the material in order to learn it well enough to present it to the members of their original group. Finally, students reform in their original group and “teach” the material to the others.
Preparing a Unit Review for the Jigsaw Approach
Preparing to administer a unit review in the jigsaw format requires dividing the material into subsets, one subset per number of students in each original group. The concepts in each subset should be related so students can make new connections if needed. Groups should be teacher created so they are diverse and encourage students to work together to become experts and to learn from each other.
Since a unit review assumes students already know most of the covered material, the expert group time would be spent discussing the essential points and looking up information not known collectively or for which there is a disagreement. This is also when the teacher should check in with each group and make sure they are not missing an important point or, especially in the case of a mathematics review, make sure answers are correct.
When students reform the original group and present their work they should keep in mind that everyone in the group needs to understand the entire review, not just their expert material. This part of the jigsaw would need the most time when used as a unit review so each expert has time to present the findings and answer any peer's questions.
Though originally designed for cooperative learning of new material, the jigsaw is also a useful cooperative reviewing technique. It allows students to discover gaps in their learning, review specific subsets of the material, share their understanding with a small group of peers, and learn from each other.
Reference: Elliot Aronson. (2000-2011). Explore the Jigsaw Classroom. In The Jigsaw Classroom. Retrieved 14 November, 2011, from www.jigsaw.com.
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