Educational Psychology & Counseling Publications and Other Works

Cooperative Learning Groups at the College Level: Differential Effects on High, Average, and Low Exam Performers

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2004

Abstract

A repeated-measures mixed-design was used in examining the effects of cooperative learning study teams on exam performance for 378 undergraduate students enrolled in one of 10 large sections of an introductory educational psychology course over a two-semester period. Students were assigned to 5-member cooperative groups based on previous exam achievement (low, average, high). Bonuses (20% of exam score) were offered to groups who improved their mean exam performance to a pre-established criterion in the cooperative-group phase. Results yielded an overall effect size of 0.42 for cooperative study versus individual study. Students who had obtained low and average scores on the preceding exam improved significantly during cooperative study, but the previously high achievers decreased somewhat.

Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS