Jigsaw (teaching technique)

Jigsaw is a teaching technique used in small group instruction. Students of a normal-sized (26-33 students) class are broken into competency groups. Each group is given a list of subtopics to research, with individual members of the group breaking off to work with the "experts" of other groups, then returning to their starting body in the role of instructor for their subcategory.

The following list of Jigsaw steps explains the process in more detail:

1. Divide up the students into teams of five.
2. Appoint one person from each group as the leader.
3. Divide the lesson into segments to match the number of people in each group.
4. Assign one member of each group to learn each lesson segment.
5. Give students time to work on step 4.
6. Gather students into ‘Expert groups,’ which are the segmented mini groups. Give them time to discuss their findings of step 4.
7. Bring the students back into their main groups.
8. Have each student present his or her findings to the main group.
9. Move from group to group as a facilitator wherever needed.
10. Quiz or otherwise test the material covered to determine retention (Aronson, 2007).

History and Creation

The jigsaw teaching technique was invented and named in 1971 in Austin, Texas by a graduate professor named Elliot Aronson. Recent desegregation had forced a racial mix on the students of Austin, and many teachers were unable to cope with the turmoil and hostility of the situation (Aronson, 2007).

After studying the problem at the request of the school superintendent, Aronson decided that inter-school competition was leading students to study too much on their own, and was interfering with the idea of a cooperative classroom.

By arranging the students in culturally and racially diverse groups, Aronson and his team of graduate students were able to reduce the divisions between students. In fact, when one Hispanic boy named Carlos was tormented by his peers for his difficulty with the language, the bullying students were not admonished for their behavior. Instead, they were reminded that the exam was in fifteen minutes, and their sole source of information on the subject was Carlos, the boy they had been harassing. Behavior improved notably and immediately.

Use Outside the Classroom

The jigsaw method lends itself to other methods of small- and part-group instruction. Notable football coach, historian, and blogger [http://www.coachwyatt.com/ Hugh Wyatt] uses a form of Jigsaw teaching method, without the terminology, in his football coaching. Wyatt, after teaching and practicing the responsibilities of a play in one direction, has each member of his team carefully instruct their opposite in the responsibilities for the reversed play.

For example, after learning the play to the right, the team is given several minutes where the right guard and left guard discuss their reversed roles, the right tackle and left tackle converse and teach each other their new mirrored responsibilities, and so on, leaving the coaching staff to only cover specific details and teach those players who do not have a mirroring teammate, such as the Quarterback.

External links

* [http://www.jigsaw.org/steps.htm/wheel/images/tips.htm/ The Jigsaw Classroom]
* [http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/teaching/jigsaw.html Jigsaw - Case Method Teaching]
* [http://www.CoachWyatt.com/ Dynamics of the Double Wing Video Series]