I aim to foster a supportive community of students as they continue to develop the collaborative problem solving skills that are not only important for the learning of mathematics but are essential for understanding and contributing to our changing world. As such, every course that I teach includes cooperative assignments completed in and out of the classroom. Including in-class problem solving has many benefits, some of which are:
- Creating an environment where students learn from each other.
- Allowing for the student/faculty feedback loop to be closed more quickly -- group work is an excellent non-threatening assessment tool.
- Giving an introverted student the opportunity to speak up and contribute in a setting which is often less intimidating than the class as a whole.
- It is fun!! Maybe the most important, as this will drive higher student engagement.
There obviously many other benefits, some of which may be found here, here, and here.