The Perceived Efficacy of Cooperative Group Learning in a Graduate Program

Abstract

This paper addresses a gap in the literature about the study of the implementation of cooperative/collaborative group learning, and the assessment of its efficacy in facilitating transformative learning in the context of graduate studies. These topics have been widely discussed in the scholarly literature at the K-12 and post-secondary (college and undergraduate) level for many years, and cooperative group learning has generally been found to facilitate student learning. What has not been addressed is the use of this form of group learning in graduate studies. This paper reports on an intentional model of cooperative group-learning used in a Master of Education in Higher Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Higher Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. A brief review of the literature that grounds this praxis, the elements of the model used, and a post-hoc analysis of the perceptions of 77 graduate students (90% response rate) surveyed in a case study regarding its efficacy in facilitating their learning are presented. The findings suggest that this model of group-based learning has the potential to enhance the process for transformative learning at the graduate level of education.

Group Learning and University Students’ EFL Learner Identity Construction: A Multiple Case Study in China

“…Almulla's study (2017) showed that group learning provides students with expertise and ideas to achieve their learning goals. Further, a group learning environment offers excellent opportunities for the students to ask questions, discuss issues, defend opinions, exchange ideas, and clarify concepts (Janzen, 2021). These studies provide us with an overall picture of the contribution of group learning to the development of learners' core competencies.…”

“…Group learning, used interchangeably with collaborative learning, cooperative learning, peer learning, and group work, is superior to individual learning (McKeachie, 2002;Timpson & Bendel-Simso, 1996;Gunderson & Moore, 2008). More recently, Janzen (2021) explained that the terms collaborative learning groups, cooperative learning groups, team-based learning, and learning communities were used almost interchangeably with group learning in the literature, with few distinctive differentiation. In group learning, students work together in groups of the appropriate size to carry out a collective task, while they are embedded in a network of informal social relations (Rau & Heyl, Open Journal of Modern Linguistics 1990).…”

“…That group learning is used interchangeably with the terms related to co-operation and collaboration is probably because all are grounded in the theory of the social construction of knowledge, suggesting that learners' understanding of reality comes from their interaction and discussion with others in a social context (Bay & Pacharn, 2017;Janzen, 2021). In group learning, the students are provided with adequate opportunities to develop various interpersonal, intrapersonal, presentational and communicational skills, all beneficial to life outside the classroom, including: becoming active learners with collaborative and co-operative skills, and lifelong learning skills, developing and practicing skills in decision making, problem solving, values clarification, communication, critical thinking, negotiation, conflict resolution, teamwork, etc.…”