Doctoral students at University of Missouri St. Louis explored the process of measuring cooperative performance by playing EnTeam games. Building on the work of Johnson, Johnson and Holubec, we explored how cooperative learning involves positive interdependence, face-to-face pro-motive interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing.
In contrast to the traditional table tennis and the win-lose, competitive spirit, the cooperative table tennis we played involved two players trying to maximize total hits. Some participating members commented that it was difficult to change their mindset from trying to hit the ball aggressively to passing the ball so their opponent can pass it back.
This cooperative game led to a productive discussion on how to motivate students to participate in cooperative learning.
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