Insights on Application of Johnson and Johnson's Five Elements of Cooperative Learning to Health Education Curriculum Delivery

Abstract

The active participation of the students in the classroom discussion is always being encouraged to strengthen not only the cognitive ability of the learners but also the affective and psychomotor domains. Teachers can use an instructional strategy known as "cooperative learning” to achieve this. Johnson and Johnson (1999) developed a model of cooperative learning comprising five elements. This paper describes how these elements would be applied in Health Education Curriculum in Nigeria. The purpose of this article is to describe the Health Education curriculum in Nigeria, the concepts and effects of cooperative learning in a classroom to see its impact on student learning. Also, the five elements of cooperative learning are discussed as they may be applied to Health Education curriculum. The paper concludes that the five elements of cooperative learning can be utilized to enhance and promote higher student achievement in Health Education curriculum.