Team learning is an especially powerful way of using small groups. Different authors have used different terms when writing about small groups: learning groups, collaborative learning, cooperative learning, and team learning. Despite the varying terminology, all refer to the same idea: putting individual students in a class into small groups for the purpose of promoting more active and more effective learning.

By creating a course structure that involves small groups in the initial acquisition of course content, in learning how to apply that content, and in the assessment of...