An Assessment of Cooperative Learning used for Basic Computer Skills Instruction in the College Classroom

Abstract

This article reports research on the use of cooperative learning strategies in a computer skills lab course at the college level. An experimental design was used to compare the difference in learning performance and student retention in the course between a section taught using cooperative teams and one taught in the traditional individual learning format. Both sections were taught by the regular full-time professor. The results showed that both performance and retention were significantly improved with the use of cooperative learning. The study also included a measure of computer anxiety the analysis of which resulted in a significant interaction between section and anxiety for overall course grade percentage, the high anxiety students doing much better in the cooperative learning section than in the individual learning section. The high anxiety students all experienced a reduction in anxiety regardless of treatment. However, the change in anxiety was most dramatic for the high anxiety students in the cooperative learning treatment, their group mean fell within the low anxiety range at the end of the course.