Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: The effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures.

Abstract

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples. As predicted by social interdependence theory, results indicate that higher achievement and more positive peer relationships were associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures. Also as predicted, results show that cooperative goal structures were associated with a positive relation between achievement and positive peer relationships. Implications for theory and application are discussed.

The Reading Edge: a randomized evaluation of a middle school cooperative reading program

“…Extensive experimental research on cooperative learning methods has found that these strategies generally increase student achievement if they incorporate group goals and individual accountability (Slavin, 1995;Slavin, Hurley, & Chamberlain, 2003;Webb & Palincsar, 1996). Cooperative learning has been particularly effective and extensively researched in middle schools (Roseth, Johnson, & Johnson, 2008;Slavin et al, 2003). Cooperative learning methods in which students have regular opportunities to discuss ideas with partners, to help each other study, and to provide formative feedback to each other have been successfully evaluated in several randomized evaluations in elementary and middle schools (Slavin, 1978(Slavin, , 1995Slavin & Karweit, 1984).…”

Self-directed learning research: An imperative for transforming the educational landscape

“…Several studies indicate that people involved in cooperative learning demonstrate greater effort to achieve than people learning on their own (Roseth, Johnson & Johnson 2008;Springer, Stanne & Donovan 1999). From research, it is clear that cooperative learning should meet certain criteria in order for it to contribute to selfdirected learning ).…”

“…CBGs are characterised by their small, heterogeneous composition and are formed as a long-term supportive arrangement for members (Johnson et al 2008). These small groups, composed of no more than four students each, meet on a regular basis in and outside of class.…”

“…The cooperative base-group (CBG) approach is one of the three cooperative learning (CL) approaches advocated and described by David and Roger Johnson (Johnson et al 2008). CBGs are characterised by their small, heterogeneous composition and are formed as a long-term supportive arrangement for members (Johnson et al 2008).…”

A Scale Development for Teacher Competencies on Cooperative Learning Method

“…According to Gillies (et al 2008), if the teacher does not competent for cooperative learning, it is obvious that he/she will face with various problems in the process of implementation, of course. It has been emphasized in the literature that the knowledge of teachers how to adopt cooperative learning to class environment and training program is quite important in order to develop the communication and dependence of teacher-student, and to support the cooperative research and ability to solve problems, and to enable the students to feel in safe in the class environment (Johnson & Johnson, 2003;Roseth, Johnson, & Johnson, 2008). Blatchford et al (2003) has emphasized that both teachers and students should be trained before the implementation in order to apply in the best and correct way.…”