Jigsaw Method

Jigsaw is a method of cooperative learning where each student in the group is essential to learning a part of the topic under discussion. Each member becomes the expert for their group and that is the only access that the other group members have to that information. To ensure that the other group members get the information in a complete manner the members that have the same piece to present come together and get feedback and information that others have found. This ensures that the students have the same story to tell their groups.

This is a method that increases attention to the topic as well as the quality of cooperation and tolerance for a diverse world. It increases cooperation and tolerance because the individuals feel the pressure and need to be the expert because of their peers’ dependence on their thoroughness. It also increases attention to other members of the group as that is their only way of learning the material that they are expected to know.

In a classroom with a limited number of computers each computer can be used for the source of information for each of the expert groups.

You could either give a section of time for each of the expert groups to go and research at the computers and type up their information to present, or you could allow each computer to be a center for each of the groups to find information for their expert group section. There could be a double jigsaw in that there are smaller parts of the expert field that each member of the expert group receives to research. This will minimize redundancies within the expert group and speed up the time at the computers. Once they have it all together they go back to the home groups to present.

Advantages of Jigsaw are some of the things that I mentioned before that there is increased cooperation and a deeper understanding of the topic because of the increased responsibility on the part of the students. When they take their responsibilities seriously they earnestly study the topic so they can accurately report back to their home groups.

Some of the disadvantages are when there is an individual who tries to dominate and not all of the members are able to fully share their part and the whole group suffers. There is also the problem of a student who is not able or unwilling to research their part sufficiently. That is why the expert groups are formed to help mitigate the impact of a lower skilled student on their group. They help revise the report before it is given to the home groups.