cooperative learning effects in online instruction

Instructional Design & Technology

Cooperative Learning Effects in Online

Instruction

Beth Allred Oyarzun


Increase of Online Courses• Economics

• Classroom space• More students • Class scale (more sections, more

students)• Obstacles

• Work• Family• Other


Introduction• Face-to-face/online comparison (Bernard, et.al.,

2009)

• Transactional distance (Moore, 1989)

• Three Types Interaction (Moore, 1989)

• Communities of Inquiry (Garrison et.al., 2000)

Purpose – Does cooperative Learning increase achievement and/or assist in creating a community of inquiry in online courses?


Cooperative Learning• Students work together to

accomplish a shared learning goal. (Johnson & Johnson, 1999)

Cooperative Learning Methods

Method DeveloperLearning Together & Alone Johnson and JohnsonTeams-Games-Tournaments (TGT) Devries and EdwardsGroup Investigation Sharan and SharanConstructive Controversy Johnson and JohnsonJigsaw Aronson and AssociatesStudent Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Slavin and AssociatesComplex Instruction CohenCooperative Integrated Reading & Composition (CIRC)

Stevens, Slavin, and Associates


Cooperative Learning• A meta-analysis of 158 cooperative learning

studies found that 8 methods of cooperative learning increased achievement and improved cognitive and social development in face-to-face classes. (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000)

• Another meta-analysis of 168 studies in higher education found that cooperative learning strategies promoted higher achievement than competitive or individualistic learning strategies in face-to-face classes. (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998)


Cooperative Learning• There are relatively few studies of

cooperative learning in distance education.• One study found no significant differences

on declarative knowledge, but a significant difference on procedural knowledge in the cooperative group. (Riley & Anderson, 2006)

• A meta analysis of student-student interaction studies found that stronger student to student interactions increased achievement. (Borokhovski et. al, 2012)


Community of Inquiry


Community of Inquiry• The causal relationship between the

three constructs was examined and found that social presence is the mediating variable between teaching and cognitive presence. (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009)

• A literature review of all COI studies found that only 5 studies measured student learning. (Rouke & Kanuka, 2009)


COI – Social Presence• The ability of participants to project

their personal characteristics into the community.• Effective communication• Open communication• Group cohesion


COI - Cognitive Presence• The extent to which community

participants are able to construct meaning through sustained communication• Triggering and event• Exploration• Integration• Resolution


COI -Teaching Presence• The design, facilitation, and direction

of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of obtaining meaningful and worthwhile learning outcomes• Design and organization• Facilitation• Direct Instruction


MethodologyParticipants• 34 undergraduate college students

enrolled in an online instructional technology course.

• The population varied from traditional campus students taking some online courses to non-traditional students taking all online courses


MethodologyDesign• The duration of the study was 6 weeks and

covered two instructional units. • There were two sections of the class that

were treated as intact groups. • During the first unit of instruction, one

section received the individual treatment and the other received the cooperative treatment. During the second unit the treatments switched.


MethodologyTreatment• The cooperative treatment used was

the group investigation method. • This treatment requires that students

work on an individual assignment and a group presentation in self selected small groups

• The participants received a group grade for the presentation and an individual grade for the assignment.


MethodologyMaterials• Each unit of instruction required in depth

instructional development projects.• Unit 1 – develop an lesson for online learning• Unit 2 – develop a portfolio of your teaching

philosophy, instructional resources, and a lesson plan.

• Detailed instructions and rubrics were provided for each assignment

• Specific instructions regarding group roles, communication tools, and grading were also provided for the cooperative groups.


MethodologyInstrumentation• The Community of Inquiry Survey

was administered at the end of each unit

• A Satisfaction survey was administered at the end of each unit

• Final grades for each unit were collected

• Demographic data was also collected


ResultsDemographics• 29 female – 5 male participants• 9 sophomores, 19 juniors, 4 seniors,

2 non-traditional participants• 4 had some computer knowledge,

27 were comfortable with computers, 3 were advanced.


ResultsAchievement• The results indicate that there were

no significant differences in achievement in either unit possibly due to a ceiling effect

Cooperative Individual ANOVA M SD M SD F p

Unit 1 27.13 3.71 24.83 7.99 1.241 .274Unit 2 27.2 3.73 28.18 2.25 .909 .347


ResultsCommunity of Inquiry


Unit 1 CoI 163.16 33.50 178.40 19.99 2.42 .130TP 50.37 11.71 58.93 6.15 6.57 .015*SP 38.95 8.34 39.47 6.59 .039 .845CP 42.95 8.69 48.60 5.25 4.91 0.34Unit 2 CoI 189.53 20.83 167.89 28.41 6.10 .019*TP 59.60 8.35 54.74 8.39 2.83 .102SP 43.47 7.07 37.79 8.47 4.34 .045*CP 50.53 5.36 45.84 7.35 4.30 .046*


ResultsSatisfaction• The results show no significant differences in satisfaction.

However, there was a trend indicating the extension students were more satisfied with the cooperative treatment while the campus students were more satisfied with the individual treatment.


Unit 1 26.74 6.18 29.07 4.46 1.506 .229Unit 2 31.27 4.43 27.74 6.17 3.48 .071


Discussion• The results of this study suggest

that the cooperative group investigation method may help build a community of inquiry for certain student populations, particularly, the population of students that do not have a connection to the campus.


QuestionsBeth [email protected]

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cooperative learning effects in online instruction

Documents

cooperative learning

student learning

johnson johnson

cooperative group

shared learning goal

student interaction

higher achievement

coi studies