Students’ experiences of a teacher-led implementation of cooperative learning: A longitudinal study

Abstract

An extensive research base has developed exploring the effects of the pedagogical model of cooperative learning (CL) on students’ academic and social learning. However, it has also been found that teachers face challenges when implementing the method after training. This paper presents a teacher team’s longitudinal implementation of CL and investigates the relationships between teachers’ learning during a professional development (PD) program, their changes of teaching practice, and students’ learning, by exploring the students’ experiences. The findings indicate that the PD program supported the teachers’ learning and implementation of CL, which led to a change in practices to incorporate CL. Their students experienced social gains, such as the development of social skills, after the implementation of CL. However, the implementation of CL was not sustained when final exams approached. The empirical findings also indicate a need to emphasise group processing as part of the implementation of CL to develop and support students’ reflection on their cooperative learning.