An experimental study of the relationship between cooperative learning and critical thinking
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of cooperative learning to critical thinking and achievement test scores. Data were collected by using the Nelson Deny Reading Test (Forms C & D), midterm examination, final examination, and four activities from the selected class text "Thinking Critically." The study lasted for 14 weeks and was conducted at Tennessee State University during the 1994 Fall semester. The subjects were 80 students enrolled in selected classes of remedial reading. The use of cooperative learning as an instructional methodology promote the cognitive beliefs that the subject matter was important, and that the student can affect his/her achievement in the class. The creativeness of problem solving depended upon the presence of controversy and divergent thinking within a group. The findings of the study support the view that students who use the cooperative learning structure attached greater importance to academic achievement and believed that their peers had a positive interest in their success in learning (Hutten, 1991, p. 11). Cooperative learning challenged students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they worked in groups. A non-independent experimental/control group was analyzed through correlational F test comparing pretest and posttest scores for the two groups analyzed. Statistical analysis of the results controlling for previous learning using an analysis of covariance procedure was tabulated for both groups. The results of the study showed that there were significant differences between the groups in achievement scores according to the instruments used in the study. Cooperative learning was found to be an effective method of instruction to be used in remedial reading classes.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching|Education|Bilingual education|Multicultural education
Recommended Citation
Jane Bartley Baugh Asamani,
"An experimental study of the relationship between cooperative learning and critical thinking"
(1995).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI9806590.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI9806590