Reviews

Pioneering Perspectives in Cooperative Learning - Theory, Research, and Classroom Practice for Diverse Approach to CL. (Davidson, N. ed., Routledge, 2021, 267 pages)

  Pioneering Perspectives in Cooperative Learning offers the reader the theories and practice of leading pioneers of cooperative learning (CL). For the past five decades they have had a fundamental role in creating the basic science of the CL discourse. The number of research studies and the models of cooperative learning included in this book present a proven basis for this discourse.  

  Promoting Academic Talk in Schools. Global Practices and Perspectives. (Gillies, R. M. ed., Routledge 2019.)

 Promoting Academic Talk in Schools brings together a rich array of recent research to explore how academic talk helps transform student experience across a variety of learning environments. Drawing on conceptual frameworks and evidence-based strategies, each chapter analyses the implications for practice in both formal and informal classroom settings. The book covers topics from collaborative and productive talk to increasing student participation and parent-student talk outside of the classroom. With contributions from academics in Australia, the UK, the United States, and Spain, it provides a comprehensive Western perspective of academic talk in schools.  

 Special Issue on Cooperative Learning. Journal of Community Guidance & Research. 2020 November Vol. 37 No. 3 (Sharan, Y - Agashe, L. eds) 

 All the authors included in this issue are veteran researchers and practitioners of CL, who have contributed to the steady progress of our understanding of cooperative learning and its multiple applications.Several of the research studies presented in this issue confirm the adaptability of the basic features of CL in programs for elementary schools, in diverse countries. (...) Today, the Indian cultural ethos of inclusive cooperative practices is evident in the vibrant co-curricular and extracurricular activities in schools and colleges, but classes are generally teacher-centric. Therefore, although the spirit of cooperative learning is close to the Indian heart, the change in mindset and careful preparation needed to implement it in the classroom is a challenge.  

Gillies, Robyn M. Inquiry-based science education (CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, 2020, 115 pages)

 Why structure inquiry-based science education following the cooperative learning discourse? 

Book Review by  Ferenc Arató

This book is the sixth volume of the Global Science Education series, edited by Ali Eftekhari. Robyn M. Gillies’s Inquiry-based science education is a critical contribution to the intended “encyclopedia of science education”.   This volume approaches learning interactions from inquiry-based science education, scientific literacy, and knowledge dissemination. The author's creative strategy, which is extremely rich, complex, and offers connections in a thousand threads, can also be tracked in this volume. The logical arc of the book consists of the most important scientific insights along which one can link step by step the theoretical approaches of inquiry-based science education with the actual practice of implementation.