Improving Social-Environmental Studies Problem Solving Through Cooperative Learning

Abstract

Previous investigators have found that cooperative learning group approaches to instruction are substantially more effective than methods with competitive or individualistic reward systems in the achievement of computational and recall objectives. The findings for higher order objectives are less clear. Two instructional field experiments were conducted to compare the effects of a cooperative learning group method (Slavin’s Student Teams Achievement Divisions) to a whole-class method on the acquisition of selected social-environmental studies problem-solving skills by grade 4 students. The results showed that both methods outperformed the control and that the cooperative strategy was slightly less effective than the whole-class approach.