To understand the skills needed to achieve cooperative learning it is first necessary to have a brief introduction to the topic of cooperative learning itself: Brody (1998) Cooperative learning refers more commonly to a teaching method that organizes students to work in groups toward a common goal or outcome, or share a common problem or task such that they can succeed in completing the work only through behavior that demonstrates interdependence while holding contributions accountable and individual efforts. (p. 6) Five essential elements are necessary for effective cooperative learning to occur; positive interdependence, face-to-face interactions, individual responsibility, social skills and group processing. (Johnson, 1999, p. 70-71). Since social skills are the basis for achieving all the other required elements, without this set of skills the individual student will have difficulty cooperating with others. Thompson (1996) “social skills are critical to applying cooperative learning to academic tasks” (p. 84). Promoting the development of social skills requires an environment conducive to group learning. A place where the individual student can find their personal space and at the same time be connected to the others in the group. This may require some creativity on the part of the instructor or project leader. Sometimes a reorganization of the space is necessary, taking into account environmental influences such as: lighting, sounds and temperature. When the level of distraction of individual students is kept to a minimum, they are able to have greater participation within the group. Recognition is also an important force that motivates both the individual and the group to learn. Agreement... middle of paper... an alternative high school. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet? accno=ED359271Gibbs, J. (2001). Tribe: a new way of learning and being together. Windsor, CA: CenterSource Systems.Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Making cooperative learning work. Theory in Practice, 38(2), 67-73. doi:10.1080/00405849909543834 Slavin, R. E. (1991). Synthesis of research on cooperative learning. Educational Leadership, 48(5), 71. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224852031Sparapani, E. F. (2007). Cooperative learning communication skills. Retrieved from http://www6.svsu.edu/~efs/clcommunicationskills.htmThompson, K. L., & Taymans, J. M. (1996). Taking the chaos out of cooperative learning: The three most important components. The Clearing House, 70(2), 81. doi: 10.1080/00098655.1996.9959403