Which of the following are not the features of cooperative learning…

Concept: Cooperative learning is an instructional design in which small, heterogeneous groups work towards a shared goal, so that no member can succeed unless the others succeed too. Its defining elements are positive interdependence, both individual and group accountability, promotive face-to-face interaction, explicitly taught small-group social skills, and group processing.

Application — test each listed statement against those defining elements:

1. Individual competition: cooperative learning deliberately replaces competition between individuals with positive goal interdependence, in which members sink or swim together. Competition between individual learners belongs to a competitive learning structure, not a cooperative one.

2. Positive interdependence among students: this is the first and most basic defining element. Goals, tasks, resources, roles or rewards are structured so that each member needs the others to complete the work.

3. Sole reliance on teacher guidance: in a cooperative structure the teacher sets the task, monitors the groups and intervenes only when needed, while the learning itself is peer-mediated. Exclusive dependence on the teacher describes direct or expository instruction.

4. Individual rather than group accountability: cooperative learning requires both individual accountability, where each member answers for their own share, and group accountability, where the team answers for the shared product. Replacing group accountability with individual accountability removes half of that requirement.

Cross-check — map each statement to its status:

Only positive interdependence among students is a feature of cooperative learning. The statements that are not its features are therefore A, C and D.