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Neil M.A. HauensteinVirginia Tech

Part of the challenge of academics is to find teachingstrategies that convey the information effectively, maintainthe student’s interest and motivation, and dare I say, allow thestudent to take some ownership of the topic. In this issueLaura provides a written reprise of her 2001 SIOP presenta-tion on the Jigsaw Classroom that provides an effective strat-egy for achieving the above goals. This column is intended asan open forum on education and training issues, so please do not hesitate toprovide feedback or to volunteer to write an article for the column. Contacteither Laura (Laura.Koppes@eku.edu) or me at nhauen@vt.edu. We’re stilllooking for that “catchier” title for the column, so put your creative thinkingcaps on!

Using the Jigsaw Classroom to Teach the History of I-O Psychology and Related Topics

Laura L. KoppesEastern Kentucky University

The history of I-O psychology is an essential componentof any I-O psychology or related course. According toSchultz and Schultz (2000), “Only by exploring psycholo-gy’s origins and studying its development can we see clearlythe nature of psychology today” (p. 2). After reviewing thefirst 50 years of the journal Personnel Psychology, editorJohn R. Hollenbeck (1998) stated, “. . . the impact that onehas on the future seems to be closely related to one’s appreciation of the past.This makes it all the more fitting, therefore, to reflect on and study our past. . .” (Editorial). Adequate coverage of our discipline’s history is challeng-ing, however, because of the vast amount of information from the past 100-plus years. This article describes a learning strategy that allows for inten-sive coverage of broad material and provides for active learning.

The jigsaw classroom is a cooperative learning technique in which stu-dents spend a portion of their time in pursuit of common goals (Aronson,Bridgeman, & Geffner, 1978; Aronson, Stephen, Sikes, Blaney, & Snapp,1978). Students are placed in learning groups and each student in eachgroup is assigned a unique and important part or segment of the material.Every student becomes an “expert” by learning one section. Once the stu-dent has learned the section, she/he then teaches it to the other group mem-

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bers. Similar to the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the parts or segments must becombined before any of the students can learn the entire picture (or entirehistory, in this example).

I include an additional step when I use this technique. After the studentlearns the segment and before teaching her/his group members, the studentmeets with an “expert” of the same segment from another learning group. (Irecognize that I am using the term, expert, loosely here!) The students sharetheir knowledge about the segment to gain another perspective and possiblyrevise their information. The student then returns to her/his group andshares the information with the group members.

I use the jigsaw classroom to teach the history of I-O psychology withone of two frameworks. One approach to framing our history is to useMuchinsky’s (2000) chronological timeline. One hundred years are dividedinto six separate time periods (segments):

The Early Years (1900–1916)World War I (1917–1918)Between the Wars (1919–1940)World War II (1941–1945)Toward Specialization (1946–1963)Government Intervention (1964–Present)

Using this framework, students are placed in six-person learning groups.Each student is assigned a time period/segment. Using the textbook andother assigned readings, the student is asked to identify important events andindividuals in the discipline during the period. Then, the student conferswith another student (i.e., expert) from a different learning group, who wasassigned the same time period. The experts return to their home groups andteach about the time period to their group members. While the students areteaching each other, I listen to the discussions for evidence of learning andunderstanding of relevant material. Following the jigsaw groups, I supple-ment the learning by providing additional information and explanations.

A second framework is to examine significant developments and personswithin the overall social, cultural, and political contexts of the times, anapproach referred to as a new history of psychology (Furumoto, 1988). Pateand Wertheimer (1993), for example, stated, “The history of a disciplinesuch as psychology involves describing major discoveries, illuminatingquestions of priority, and identifying ‘great individuals’ in the context of anational or international Zeitgeist” (p. xv). In order to understand the social-historical context of I-O psychology, students examine dynamic forces thatshaped the discipline during the past 100 years in the United States (i.e.,socioeconomic, business, technological, legal, military, psychological,intradisciplinary forces). To save class time, the students read materialsbefore they arrive to class (e.g., Katzell & Austin, 1992; Koppes, in press).Within this framework, students are placed in seven-person learning groups,

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with each student assigned one force. To facilitate the process, I give eachstudent a set of questions to answer. For example, a student focusing ontechnological forces may answer the following questions:

1. What are 2 paradigm shifts in the history of computer technologyin organizations? How did these shifts affect work?

2. What are 2 examples of technology’s influence on the work of I-Opsychologists?

Below is a diagram that depicts the steps for using the jigsaw classroomwith a 3-person group and a total of 4 groups in the class.

Step 1 (home group 1):Expert A

Expert B Expert C

(this would be the same combination for the other 3 home groups)

Step 2 (expert A group):Expert A

Expert A Expert AExpert A

(this would be the same combination for Expert B group and Expert C group)

Step 3 (home group 1): Expert A

Expert B Expert C

(this would be the same combination for the other 3 home groups)

Aronson, Bridgeman, and Geffner (1978) and Aronson and Bridgeman(1979) identified several beneficial effects of using the jigsaw classroomsuch as improved student attitudes, increased self-esteem, and improvedperformance. According to these researchers, two possible explanations forthese positive outcomes include (a) the students are active in their learning,and (b) the technique provides for collaborative or interdependent learning.Although I have not collected empirical data to assess the effectiveness ofthe jigsaw classroom for learning, qualitative data have revealed that thistechnique is effective in covering breadth and depth of material, facilitatingstudents’ learning, and creating positive student reactions.

ReferencesAronson, E., & Bridgeman, D. L. (1979). Jigsaw groups and the desegregated classroom:

in pursuit of common goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 5(4), 438–466.Aronson, E., Bridgeman, D. L., & Geffner, R. (1978). The effects of a cooperative class-

room structure on students’ behavior and attitudes. In D. Bar-Tal and L. Saxe (Eds.), SocialPsychology of Education: Theory and Research. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.

Aronson, E., Stephen, C., Sikes, J., Blaney, N., & Snapp, M. (1978). The jigsaw classroom.Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

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Furumoto, L. (1988). The new history of psychology. In I. S. Cohen (Ed.), The G. StanleyHall lecture series (Vol. 9, pp. 9–33). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Hollenbeck, J. R. (Ed.). (1998). Personnel psychology’s citation leading articles: The firstfive decades. Personnel Psychology, 51, Editorial.

Katzell, R. A., & Austin, J.T. (1992). From then to now: The development of industrial-organizational psychology in the United States. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 803–835.

Koppes, L. L. (in press). Industrial-organizational psychology: Confluence of dynamicforces. In D. K. Freedheim (Ed.,), History of Psychology. Volume 1 of the Handbook of psy-chology, Editor-in-Chief: I. B. Weiner. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Koppes, L. L. (2001, April). Using the jigsaw classroom to teach the history of I-O psy-chology. In L. L. Koppes & P. Bachiochi (Chairs), Ideas and Innovations for Teaching I-O Psy-chology and Related Topics. Symposium conducted at the Annual Conference of the Societyfor Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA.

Muchinsky, P.M. (2000). Psychology applied to work, (6th ed.) Belmont, CA:Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Pate, J. L., & Wertheimer, M. (1993). Preface. In J. L. Pate & M. Wertheimer (Eds.), Nosmall part: A history of regional organizations in American psychology (pp. xv–xvii). Wash-ington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2000). A history of modern psychology, (7th ed.) Orlan-do, FL: Harcourt Brace.

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