COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND STUDENT MOTIVATION

We examined the effects of cooperative group learning on students' motivation and achievement in Algebra II. Sixty-two students were randomly assigned to either a cooperative learning or traditional lecture group. Students took pretests and post-tests which assessed efficacy, intrinsic valuing, and goal orientation. Algebra achievement was assessed at the same time using a teacher-made exam. Students in the cooperative classroom exhibited significantly greater gains than the control group in algebra achievement, efficacy, intrinsic valuing of algebra, and learning goal orientation. The implications of these findings for motivational theory and cooperative group structures are discussed. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.