Cooperative learning is one of the most widespread and fruitful areas of theory, research, and practice in education. Reviews of the research, however, have focused either on the entire literature which includes research conducted in noneducational settings or have included only a partial set of studies that may or may not validly represent the whole literature. There has never been a comprehensive review of the research on the effectiveness in increasing achievement of the methods of cooperative learning used in schools. An extensive search found 164 studies investigating eight cooperative learning methods. The studies yielded 194 independent effect sizes representing academic achievement. All eight cooperative learning methods had a significant positive impact on student achievement. When the impact of cooperative learning was compared with competitive learning, Learning Together (LT) promoted the greatest effect, followed by Academic Controversy (AC), Student-Team-Achievement-Divisions (STAD), Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT), Group Investigation (GI), Jigsaw, Teams-Assisted

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Cooperative learning methods: A meta-analysis.

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples. As predicted by social interdependence theory, results indicate that higher achievement and more positive peer relationships were associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures. Also as predicted, results show that cooperative goal structures were associated with a positive relation between achievement and positive peer relationships. Implications for theory and application are discussed.

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Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures.

To answer the question of whether teaching social and emotional skills to foster social–emotional development can help schools extend their role beyond the transfer of knowledge, the authors conducted a meta-analytical review of 75 recently published studies that reported the effects of universal, school-based social, emotional, and/or behavioral (SEB) programs. The analyzed interventions had a variety of intended outcomes, but the increase in social skills and decrease in antisocial behavior were most often reported. Although considerable differences in efficacy exist, the analysis demonstrated that overall beneficial effects on all seven major categories of outcomes occurred: social skills, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, positive self-image, academic achievement, mental health, and prosocial behavior. Generally, immediate effects were stronger than delayed effects, with the exception of substance abuse, which showed a sleeper effect. Limitations of the analysis and moderators of the effectiveness of SEB programs in schools are discussed in the final section of the article.

Effectiveness of school-based universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs: do they enhance students' development in the area of skill, behavior, and adjustment?

Concern about violence in schools has been increasing, and, correspondingly, conflict resolution and peer mediation training programs have been proliferating. These programs have been developed by researchers in the field of conflict resolution, advocates of nonviolence, anti-nuclear-war activists, and members of the legal profession. It is unknown, however, whether the programs are needed and whether or not they are effective. While there are numerous methodological and conceptual problems with the research on conflict resolution and peer mediation programs, the current evidence indicates that (a) conflicts among students do occur frequently in schools (although the conflicts rarely result in serious injury); (b) untrained students by and large use conflict strategies that create destructive outcomes by ignoring the importance of their ongoing relationships; (c) conflict resolution and peer mediation programs do seem to be effective in teaching students integrative negotiation and mediation procedures; (...

Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Programs in Elementary and Secondary Schools: A Review of the Research

This study expands upon the extant prior meta-analytic literature by exploring previously theorised reasons for the failure of school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes...

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The impact of trial stage, developer involvement and international transferability on universal social and emotional learning programme outcomes: a meta-analysis

The effectiveness of a conflict-resolution program in a suburban secondary school in Canada was examined. Participants were 40 ninth-grade English students heterogeneous in academic ability. Students randomly assigned to the experimental condition received 9.5 hr of conflict-resolution training integrated into the study of literature. Those randomly assigned to the control condition studied the identical literature for 9.5 hr without conflict-resolution training. Significant differences between treatment groups were found in academic achievement, knowledge of and willingness to use the conflict-resolution procedure, and application of the procedure in conflicts.

Kathy Green

Papers

Effects on High School Students of Conflict Resolution Training Integrated Into English Literature