A COMPARISON OF COOPERATIVE AND INDIVIDUALISTIC LEARNING IN ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING STUDENTS (ACHIEVEMENT, ATTITUDES, VERBAL INTERACTION, GROUP PROCESS).
Contributors: University of Minnesota.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 170
Subjects: Education, Community College.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This experimental study was designed to investigate the effects of cooperative and individualistic goal structures on achievement, affective outcomes, and group process skills in 61 associate degree nursing students studying mental health nursing. The independent variable was the goal structure, cooperative or individualistic, within which students worked.

The dependent variables were (1) achievement scores on quizzes and examinations in mental health nursing; (2) attitudes toward modes of learning as measured by the Social Interdependence Scale; (3) attitudes towards peers, teachers, resource interdependence, and academic self-esteem as measured by the Classroom Life Scale; (4) attitudes toward working in groups and toward caring for mental health patients as measured by investigator developed scales; and (5) amount of verbal interactions related to group task or maintenance as monitored by observers using the Verbal Interaction Measure.

Students were randomly assigned to one of four discussion groups that met for 50 minutes each week for eight weeks. Two discussion groups worked in stable cooperative small groups of 3-4; another discussion group worked in different small groups of 3-4 students each week under an individualistic goal structure. The fourth discussion group of 16 students worked individualistically under the direction of the teacher.

The study results revealed no significant difference between treatment groups in achievement, attitudes, or verbal interaction. An interesting finding showed that students who worked in small groups of 3-4, whether cooperatively or individualistically, talked five times as often as students in the teacher-led individualistic group. Although there were no significant differences in achievement measures (quizzes and exams) students in the individualistically structured large group came close to having a significantly higher course grade than did the experimental group (X('2) = 12.48, 6dF, p = .052). These students were older (mean age 26.06) and had the highest mean GPA (2.8210) compared to students in the other treatment groups.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2739.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, 1984.

School code: 0130.