 A learning goal is a desired future state of demonstrating competence or mastery in

the subject area being studied. The goal structure specifies the ways in which
students will interact with each other and the teacher during the instructional
session.  Each goal structure has its place (Johnson & Johnson, 1989, 1999).  In the
ideal classroom, all students would learn how to work cooperatively with others,
compete for fun and enjoyment, and work autonomously on their own. 
 Cooperación es uno de los logros de aprendizaje (learning goal)
 Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work
together to maximize their own and each other’s learning.
 In cooperative and individualistic learning, you evaluate student efforts on a
criteria-referenced basis while in competitive learning you grade students on a
norm-referenced basis. 
 Gestalt School of Psychology, Kurt Koffka, proposed that groups were dynamic
wholes in which the interdependence among members could vary.
 For interdependence to exist, there must be more than one person or entity involved,
and the persons or entities must have impact on each other in that a change in the
state of one causes a change in the state of the others
 Entre cooperación y competencia hay un propósito común, lograr algo:
 Lewin’s graduate students, Morton Deutsch, extended Lewin’s reasoning about
social interdependence and formulated a theory of cooperation and competition
(Deutsch, 1949, 1962).  Deutsch conceptualized three types of social
interdependence–positive, negative, and none.
 Positive interdependence tends to result in promotive interaction, negative
interdependence tends to result in oppositional or contrient interaction, and no
interdependence results in an absence of interaction.
 Sin interdependencia no hay interacción.
 Formal cooperative learning consists of students working together, for one class
period to several weeks, to achieve shared learning goals and complete jointly
specific tasks and assignments.
 Informal cooperative learning consists of having students work together to achieve a
joint learning goal in temporary, ad-hoc groups that last from a few minutes to one
class period.
 Two important aspects of using informal cooperative learning groups are to (a)
make the task and the instructions explicit and precise and (b) require the groups to
produce a specific product (such as a written answer). 
 Cooperative base groups are long-term, heterogeneous cooperative learning groups
with stable membership.
 Permanent cooperative base groups provide the arena in which caring and
committed relationships can be created that provide the social support needed to
improve attendance, personalize the educational experience, increase achievement,
and improve the quality of school life.
 To be cooperative, to reach the full potential of the group, five essential elements
need to be carefully structured into the situation:  positive interdependence,
individual and group accountability, promotive interaction, appropriate use of social
skills, and group processing (Johnson & Johnson, 1989, 2005).
 Finally, there is evidence that cooperation promotes more frequent use of higher
level reasoning strategies than do competitive (effect size = 0.93) or individualistic
(effect size = 0.97) efforts.
 There are hundreds of studies indicating that cooperation, compared to competitive
and individualistic efforts, tends to result in greater effort to
achieve, more positive relationships, and greater psychological health.

Resumen 

El aprendizaje cooperativo es un tipo de formación en el que priman las relaciones

interactivas de los estudiantes como estrategia para optimizar los procesos de
aprendizaje. Para esto, el profesor se vale de la formación de grupos que se
mantendrán durante periodos cortos o prolongados, y que han de ser monitoreados
constantemente. Con el aprendizaje cooperativo se promueven relaciones dinámicas
entre los mismos alumnos y entre el profesor con los alumnos, con el especial
propósito de que se cree una interdependencia en el desarrollo de las actividades y
se genere una formación más profunda y efectiva.
Para implementarlo, en la lectura se dan consejos como: que la formación de
grupos sea planeada previamente y pensada en relación con el propósito de la clase;
que se explique siempre (y con gran claridad) la razón de ser de las actividades y
sus virtudes, lo cual me parece muy importante; que se les pida un resultado
concreto de la actividad en grupo una conclusión o una respuesta escrita, por
ejemplo; y que se esté evaluando constantemente el estado y el funcionamiento de
los grupos de trabajo.
Uno de los grandes retos que encuentro en el texto y que como estudiante he
vivido es el de lograr que los miembros del grupo interactúen entre sí de forma
dinámica, y distribuyan el trabajo en una manera interdependiente. También me doy
cuenta de que en una clase en la que constantemente se forman grupos hay que ser
más cuidadoso con el uso del tiempo, ya sea para que el tiempo no se pase en
organizar y disolver los grupos, o que se destine muy poco para el que realmente
requiere cada actividad.