The Jigsaw
If you’ve ever done a jigsaw puzzle, you know they can ensnare you trying to get one more piece before you stop. Jigsaw puzzles are engaging. James Davis discusses five teaching strategies designed to challenge and engage students in the article Innovative Teaching Strategies that Improve Student Engagement. I knew most of them, but the last one caught my attention because I like jigsaw puzzles. Below is an excerpt from the article that describes the jigsaw technique. The jigsaw technique is a “tried and true” cooperative learning strategy that helps students create their own learning. Students are arranged in groups and assigned a different piece of information. In their groups, students learn the piece of information well enough to be able to teach it to another group of students. When using this technique, students become experts on the learning as they teach their peers. Once all groups have learned their information, they are placed into new groups with members from each of the sm...