Teaching cooperative learning through cooperative learning environment: a qualitative follow-up of an experimental study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cooperative learning (CL) on the academic achievement of student teachers. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was implemented in which quantitative data were collected first, followed by qualitative data to clarify the results of the experimental study. Achievement test, interviews, and classroom observations were used for data collection. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the achievement of students in the experimental and control groups in favour of students in the experimental group (p < 0.01). Follow-up interviews and classroom observations indicated that CL creates a suitable learning environment for students, and it strengthens their life skills. Implementing CL in a university classroom provided opportunities for student teachers to learn how to apply CL in their school classrooms. This study was used to firstly, provide insights into student teachers’ perceptions of their CL experiences and secondly, to help explain these experiences in more depth.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic achievement
• cooperative learning
• deep learning
• learning environment
• student teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammad Reza Keramati

Mohammad Reza Keramati is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Iran. He was a visiting academic at the University of Alberta (2011–2012) and the University of Queensland (2019-2020). His major research interests include learning–teaching sciences, cooperative learning, small group process, and classroom leadership in primary and secondary schools and universities.

Robyn M. Gillies

Robyn M. Gillies is a Professor in the School of Education, University of Queensland, Australia. Her major research interests are related to the learning sciences, classroom discourses, small group processes, including co-regulated learning, classroom instruction, student behaviour, and students with disabilities. She has worked extensively in both primary and secondary schools to embed STEM education initiatives into the science curriculum.