Impact of Cooperative-Team Learning on Performance and Retention
Abstract
Three studies were conducted. Two investigated the impact of cooperative team learning, compared with traditional Navy instruction, on the independent functional ability to master technical information and use it to perform a conceptually complex job, the failure rate within Navy training programs, and the social integration of heterogeneous trainees into cohesive work groups characterized by esprit-de-corps. One investigated the impact of goal and resource interdependence on performance and attitudes of ROTC students. The first study involved teaching a class of 13 air traffic control trainees the Charts and Publications Unite. The second study utilized two classes of air traffic control trainees studying the Charts and Publications Unit. The results from the two studies indicate that cooperative-team learning, compared with traditional instruction, results in: 1. Greater learning of technical information. 2. Greater independent functional ability to perform job functions. 3. A zero failure rate (compared with and average of 2.14), even with trainees who had failed previous units and were judged to be incapable of the academic requirements of the training program. Greater effort to learn and a perception of the material to be learned as being less difficult. The third study compared two ways of structuring cooperation: goal interdependence (the perception that one can achieve one's goal is and only if all other group members achieve their goals) and resource interdependence (the perception that resources are divided so that each group member has only a portion of the resources need for the task to be completed).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 20, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA213393
Entities
People
- David W. Johnson
- Roger T. Johnson