Date of Award
5-1-2012
Document Type
Action Research Paper
Superseded Degree Name
Master Of Arts In Special Education
Colleges & School
College Of Education And Leadership
First Advisor
Sister Gabrielle Kowalski, O.S.F.
Library of Congress Subject Heading
Group work in education; Individualized instruction; Academic achievement; Awards
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to use a competitive structure with extrinsic rewards (gift cards) to discover if students competing in cooperative groups or competing individually would achieve higher posttest percentages. The study asked whether a student working as an individual in a competitive structure learned and retained more than a student working in a cooperative learning group in a competitive structure. If a teacher wants to ensure retention of content, will having students work in cooperative groups be more effective than individual learning? If students truly learn from each other, will a student in cooperative group learn more? Or, if students are asked to work individually and are responsible for each component of an activity or project, will they learn more by having done each component themselves? The answers are important for teachers. The use of incentives adds another element to the classroom dynamic. Do teams work better than individuals? This study sought to find the effects of tangible incentives as they related to performance of cooperative groups versus performance of individual students.
Rights
Open Access
OCLC Number
793769742
Recommended Citation
Meier, Ryan, "Individual learning versus cooperative learning in a competitive classroom" (2012). Master's Theses, Capstones, and Projects. 361.
https://digitalcommons.stritch.edu/etd/361
Is this full-text open access?
1