This study examined small group use of interactive videodisc instruction and its effects on learning. In education, small group learning is frequently referred to as cooperative learning. Therefore, to add context to the conducted research, this paper examines the literature on cooperative learning.
The paper begins with a definition of cooperative learning and a brief explication of its conceptual postulates regarding how small group interaction fosters learning. This is followed by an examination of the general effects of cooperative learning. Studies of cooperative learning in situations involving the use of media (e.g. computer instruction, television instruction) are then examined. Also, since the study involves discussion of learning, research related to small group discussion in cooperative learning situations is also examined.
Cooperative Learning: Definition and Theory
Small group learning, in the educational literature, is commonly termed cooperative learning. Slavin (1982) defines cooperative learning as:
. . . instructional methods in which students of all levels of performance work together in small groups toward a common goal. The essential feature of cooperative learning is that the success of one student helps other students to be successful (p.6).
Theoretically, the question may be asked: How is it that cooperation in learning somehow transfers the success of one student to other students?
According to Johnson and Johnson (1989) the cooperative goal structure tends to provide a sense of identification or oneness among students. This sense of identification or oneness is said by the authors to be a process that facilitates incorporation or internalization of the learning and knowledge levels of all participants in the student team.
In an earlier writing, Johnson and Johnson (1974) put it this way:
. . . (in the cooperative learning situation) when an individual behaves in such...