Jigsaw learning

A topic in teaching science

Jigsaw learning refers to a teaching technique or pedagogy. It is based on students working in groups.

There are two different groupings used during jigsaw teaching:

• Seminar groups
• Study groups

Setting up seminar groups

Initially the class is divided into seminar groups of constant size (say, 4-6 members). The number of members in each seminar group is matched to the number of topics (themes, examples, applications, etc.) that they class will study. If there are five topics, then each seminar group will comprise 5 members. (When the numbers do not work, some groups should have one extra member.)

Topics (or themes of examples or applications, etc.) are assigned such that in each seminar group someone is assigned each of the topics. (If numbers do not work precisely, in some seminar groups two members will be assigned the same topic. Thought may be given to duplicating topics where the task is likely to be especially challenging to some students.) In each seminar group there will be one (or sometimes two) students to act as a delegate to each study group.

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Re-organising into study groups

Once topics are assigned, the students are reorganised into study groups by topic. The study groups are charged with working collaboratively to

• learn about their assigned topic from suitable resources
• discuss how the material could best be taught to others, and plan/prepare to teach the topic

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Returning to seminar groups

When the study groups have done their work, the 'delegates' return to their original seminar groups. There is now (relative) expertise on each topic in each seminar group. The group members take it in turn to present on their assigned topic to the rest of their group.

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Value of jigsaw learning

Jigsaw learning has a number of features. It involves collaborative working which can support the learning of social and other skills. It is a form of 'active' working as an alternative to listening to a teacher's presentation. It is considered a constructivist pedagogy as students are involved in constructing their own knowledge (but from suitable and reliable resources). During the study groups there is potential for constructive dialogue (sharing ideas, explaining, challenging and critiquing them) which when done well supports learning for meaning. In the seminar groups students act as peer -tutors, applying the idea that one of the best ways to learn a topic is to have to teach it (Taber, 2009).

The teacher’s responsibility

Whenever the teacher delegates responsibility for learning in this way it is possible that students may misunderstand something and so teach it incorrectly to others. ow problematic this is will depend on how central the content being studied is. (If the main purposes of the session are about learning group work and collaborative skills and the assigned material is peripheral in a curriculum sense this may be less important.)

This can be minimised (but not negated) by the teacher moving between groups, listening-in, and subtly intervening as needed. (And even when a teacher gives a clear exposition, this does not always prevent students misunderstanding.)

The teacher can also select when to use this approach.

For example, when students have met some key ideas that it is valuable to reinforce, a jigsaw learning activity can be used to follow-up in terms of examples or applications that are themselves not key learning targets, but are used as contexts for students to practice what they have studied and consolidate prior learning.

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Work cited:

Taber, K. S. (2009). Learning^{2} from experience and teaching^{3} by example: reflecting upon personal learning experience to inform teaching practice. Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4(1), 82-91. (Invited opinion piece)

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