Steps of the Jigsaw method

The basics steps of a jigsaw strategy are step 1 is to divide students into groups of 4 to 6 people per group. It works best when you have the same number of students in each group. Step 2 is where you divide your contacts into 4 to 6 chunks, remembering to divide the content into the same number of chunks for each student in the group. Step 3 is assigning one chunk of content to each person in the jigsaw group. Where each group has one person responsible for one chunk of the content. That person will be expected to teach that chunk to the rest of the group. Students read and study their own chunk independently.

Step 4 is where students meet in expert groups who have the same topic. While in the expert group’s students will compare their ideas and work together to prepare a presentation to give to their jigsaw group. During this time, it allows students to fill students’ knowledge, misconceptions can be cleared up, and important concepts can be reinforced. Step 5 is where students return to jigsaw groups. When they return to their original group each student takes a turn presenting their chunk of information. The others will be taking notes while listening carefully and asking questions. Step 6 is focusing on assessing all the students on all the content learned. The assessment often can be a simple quiz to make sure all students got a basic understanding of all the material. Similarly Akinbolola (2009) stated that cooperative learning is an instructional approach that allows students with different working ability to work in teams in order to accomplish a purpose.

Overall benefits of the Jigsaw technique is that students are directly engaged with the material, instead of having material presented to them, helps foster depth of understanding. Students also gain practice in self teaching, which is one of the most valuable skills teachers can help them learn. Students gain practice in peer teaching requiring them to understand the material at a deeper level. While each student is also given the opportunity to contribute meaning to a discussion, that is often difficult to achieve in a large-group discussion. The jigsaw process encourages students to listen, engage and empathize by giving each member of the group a part to play in the activity.

Students can build comprehension. Encouraging cooperative learning among the students while improving communication and problem-solving skills. Helping reduce racial conflict among school children while helping to promote better learning, improves students’ motivation and increases enjoyment of learning. The jigsaw model is grounded in cooperative learning theory and has a strong body of empirical evidence supporting it (Aronson & Patnoe, 2011)

The jigsaw model is a strong strategy for supporting student learning that also promotes strong face-to-face interaction.

When you start to think about giving the students feedback it is important to think about the learning objectives for the topics and the subtopics. Think about what it is that you want your students to know and learn after the activity is complete. Focus on how you will assess their learning outcomes after using the jigsaw method. Creating clear and specific learning objectives will help to create meaningful and relevant subtopics, materials, and tasks for the students. Feedback is necessary; it helps students track their progress, to be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and to be able to adjust their strategies. When talking about feedback using the jigsaw method it can come from different sources like from their teacher, peers and even themselves.

Preparing feedback tools are using rubrics , checklists, or rating scales to be able to evaluate the performance of students as experts and learners. Using quizzes is often an easier route but can also use surveys or even portfolios to measure the knowledge of the students before and after the activity. Being able to facilitate reflection also develops deeper understanding, connecting their learning to other contexts, and developing metacognitive skills. When using reflection, it can be done individually or together throughout the activity. An example would be to ask students to write down their reflection on what they want their learning goals to be and the outcomes they want to see after the activity. Also asking questions or using prompts will help scaffold students to restore reflection. The students feel that they have each other to rely on for information, helping them to feel responsible, by supporting each other and improving their social and collaborative skills. Furthermore, using cooperative learning such as Jigsaw in the classroom has many effects such as improvements of academic performance, higher self-esteem and more positive views about school altogether (Winslow, 2020). Making sure that as a teacher you acknowledge and appreciate the efforts, achievements and engagements students made through the activity. Providing them with the opportunity to share their learning products to help reinforce their learning , receive recognition and feedback while developing a sense of pride and ownership.

The way that the jigsaw method shapes your class rules and procedures and guides your student expectations are showing the students to have respect, give their best effort, follow directions, participate, and take responsibility for their work. One classroom rule is respect yourself, the teacher, and others through the activity. While working in groups together it is important to remember to have respect for everyone's ideas. This method involves a lot of group work where the students will learn to have respect for one another. Students will be guided to give their best effort when working in groups by always doing their own best work.

When sharing with others their ideas it gives students the ability to put quality ahead of just getting the work done. This method is focused on following directions to become experts in a specific topic where the students will learn to follow directions when given the first time or learn to ask questions when clarity is needed.

Participation is crucial when working in groups and this method keeps the students engaged with what’s going on. Showing them to be proactive about their learning and not being afraid to ask for help from peers. Lastly another rule this method implements is taking responsibility for their own work and their honesty of them being the ones completing the work. Taking the responsibility of completing their section that was assigned to them to be able to present to their group. This method allows the students to work on everyday classroom rules while allowing them to set expectations for the students through the activity provided for them.