This article examines 122 existing studies concerning the effectiveness cooperation with and without intra-group competition, inter-personal competition, and individualistic goal structures, by using a meta-analysis. Three types of met-analysis are performed: vote method, effect-size method, and z-score method. Results indicate that cooperation is superior to competition and individualistic efforts for increasing achievement and productivity, cooperation without inter-group competition is better than cooperation with inter-group competition, and no significant differences occur between interpersonal competition and individualistic efforts on achievement and productivity. The authors conclude that these findings should have significant impacts for education and industry.

Effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures on achievement: A meta-analysis.

http://socialfamily535.pbworks.com/f/slavin1996%5B1%5D.pdf

Research on cooperative learning and achievement: What we know, what we need to know.

Five recently published methods for conducting cooperative small-group learning in the classroom, and the experimental studies conducted by the authors of these methods are examined, evaluated, and compared in this study. The five methods are: Aronson’s Jigsaw classroom, DeVries’ Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT), Slavin’s Student Teams and Academic Divisions (STAD), the Johnsons’ cooperative learning approach, and the Sharans’ Small-group Teaching method. The former three methods are categorized as Peer-Tutoring methods, while the latter two are classified as examples of a Group-Investigation (G-I) approach. Findings are considered from experimental studies with these five methods, in terms of their differential effects on academic achievement, students’ attitudes, and on ethnic relations in desegregated classrooms. The implications of the distinction between Peer-Tutoring and G-I methods are explored. New directions for research are suggested with these cooperative small-group techniques which appear to exe...

Cooperative Learning in Small Groups: Recent Methods and Effects on Achievement, Attitudes, and Ethnic Relations

This article reviews research on the achievement effects of cooperative learning instructional methods, in which students work in small groups to learn academic materials. Methodologically adequate field experiments of at least 2 weeks' duration in regular elementary and secondary schools indicate that among cooperative learning methods in which students study the same material together) only methods that provide group rewards based on group members' individual learning consistently increase student achievement more than control methods. Cooperative learning methods in which each group member has a unique subtask have positive achievement effects only if group rewards are provided. Group rewards and individual accountability are held to be essential to the instructional effectiveness of cooperative learning methods. Over the past 30 years there has been a considerable quantity of research concerning the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic incentive structures on individual and group productivity. A cooperative incentive structure is one in which two or more individuals are rewarded based on their performance as a group; a competitive incentive structure indicates that two or more individuals are compared with one another, and those performing best are rewarded; and an individualistic incentive structure is one in which individuals are rewarded based on their own performance, regardless of others' performances. The research on these incentive structures has been reviewed on several occasions (e.g., Johnson & Johnson, 1974; Michaels, 1977; MillerHSlavin, 1977). All of these reviewers agreed that research relating different incentive structures to performance produces inconsistent findings. Some studies find that cooperative incentive

When does cooperative learning increase student achievement

Social interdependence theory is a classic example of the interaction of theory, research, and practice. The premise of the theory is the way that goals are structured determines how individuals interact, which in turn creates outcomes. Since its formulation nearly 60 years ago, social interdependence theory has been modified, extended, and refined on the basis of the increasing knowledge about, and application of, the theory. Researchers have conducted over 750 research studies on the relative merits of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts and the conditions under which each is appropriate. Social interdependence theory has been widely applied, especially in education and business. These applications have resulted in revisions of the theory and the generation of considerable new research. The authors critically analyze the new developments resulting from extensive research on, and wide-scale applications of, social interdependence theory.

New developments in social interdependence theory.

Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Classroom Environments on the Attitudes and Achievement of Elementary School Students Engaged in Social Studies Inquiry Activities.

Sixty fifth and sixth grade subjects were randomly assigned to cooperative (Coop) or competitive (Comp) conditions and involved with identical inquiry-related social studies lessons and reward payoffs over a period of 18 days. Coop subjects worked together in randomly assigned groups of six, but Comp subjects worked individually. Afterwards, Coop groups and Comp groups (subjects randomly assigned) played the simulation game Seal Hunt undertdentical conditions, including options of "winning" in cooperative and/ or competitive fashion. Analysis of video tapes of game play revealed that even in the absence of a pre-structured cooperative or competitive environment, Coop subjects, more than Comp subjects, continued to manifest such cooperative behavior as instituting and implementing group strategies and rendering assistance to one another (p .05)

The Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Background Experiences of Students on the Play of a Simulation Game

Primary-grade students can gain exposure to a wide range of economic concepts in state standards if teachers use reading strategies that embrace children's literature with economic content. This approach allows teachers to teach their students reading strategies and economics simultaneously. Almost all states have content standards in economics, beginning with kindergarten. Our review has identified well over 300 picture books and easy readers that focus on economic concepts found in the state standards. We selected a number of these books and arranged them into groups of five by economic concept. The selection of a book into the “top five” is based on objective criteria and on direct experience in teaching with the books. The longer list, which is found at a complementary website, and the top-five selections should prove useful given the current trend in numerous states to link English standards to required readings with topics in the social sciences.

Teaching Economics Through Children's Literature in the Primary Grades

Curricular reforms that emphasize instruction of basic economic concepts have affected several generations of primary-grade students. To evaluate the degree to which primary-grade students have been gaining economic literacy, this study highlights the key achievements in efforts to add economics to the curriculum and to assess young students' understanding of basic economic concepts. The study also examines current strategies to teach economic concepts, and it reviews a large body of children's literature for economics-related content. We argue that even after most states began to mandate economics curricula for every grade level beginning with kindergarten, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the suitability of these mandated concepts in the primary grades of elementary school. Our review of children's literature makes clear that there is no shortage of opportunities to learn about economics through reading. We identified close to two hundred picture books and easy readers that have an economics-related theme as their principal focus.

Economic Literacy Among Primary-Grade Students

The Goals 2000 Educate America Act of 1994 included economics among the nine core subject areas that were targeted for the development of content standards. A new set of voluntary national content standards in economics, published in 1997, helped to guide administrators, teachers, and policy makers as they considered various educational objectives in the design of state-level content standards. (1) Today, almost all states have content standards in economics across grade levels, beginning with kindergarten. This study examines the status of economics in the primary grades by examining cross-state variation in all the economics concepts and principles specified in state standards for the primary grades--defined as kindergarten through fourth grade. We find that states exhibit a wide variation in the types of economics standards they have implemented for their public schools. This variation means that some teachers face a very high bar in terms of the level at which they are expected to teach economics, while other teachers face a fairly low bar. The results are used to construct four groups of states that are defined by higher and lower degrees of completeness and specificity in their standards. These groupings, which show how particular states compare with other reference states, suggest that states with more complete standards are more likely to have grade-level breakdowns, while states with less complete standards tend to have economics standards defined by grade clusters. The Development of Content Standards in Economics Curricular reforms that emphasize instruction of economic concepts have affected several generations of elementary-school students. The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE, formerly the Joint Council on Economic Education) has led efforts to encourage teachers and administrators to integrate economics directly into a central place in the social studies curriculum across grade levels. These efforts include the development and promotion of a host of economic courses, programs, and infusion efforts. For example, its Economics America program involves statewide economics councils and university-based centers, helping schools and school districts develop economics curricula, set standards, and train teachers. This program grew out of the (now discontinued) Developmental Economic Education Program, which started in 1964 as an experimental teaching program to provide in-service training, curriculum planning, and help with testing. (2) Millions of students have been reached by these initiatives. During the 1980s and 1990s, coinciding with the U.S. reform movement toward a standards-based system of education, the NCEE worked on formulating a voluntary national curriculum, commonly known as the Master Curriculum Guide. This curriculum guide--which was combined from several documents--provided a catalog of economic concepts and accompanying teaching materials. (3) This voluntary set of concepts served as the predecessor of the current national standards. In 1994, the Goals 2000 Educate America Act recommended the development of standards in nine core subject areas, including economics. The NCEE lobbied for inclusion of economics in Goals 2000; it found funding for the development of the economic standards; and it brought other groups in economics and education together as a coalition to write content standards for the primary and secondary grades. The new standards, published as the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics, consist of 20 essential principles in economics. (4) Each of the 20 principles is accompanied by a rationale for including that standard, a statement about how students can use this knowledge, and examples of activities and lessons that teachers can use to help students demonstrate or improve their understanding of the economics ideas. The standards also include a set of benchmarks (for grades 4, 8, and 12) that elaborate on the principles in increasingly sophisticated levels of attainment. …

Ronald C. Wheeler

Papers

Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Classroom Environments on the Attitudes and Achievement of Elementary School Students Engaged in Social Studies Inquiry Activities.

The Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Background Experiences of Students on the Play of a Simulation Game

Teaching Economics Through Children's Literature in the Primary Grades

Economic Literacy Among Primary-Grade Students

Cross-State Variation in Economics Content Standards in the Primary Grades.