COOPERATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING AND STUDENT MISCONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE

This study was conducted to examine the effects of two learning condit ions (individual and cooperative learning) and two reward structures ( incentive and no incentive) on student misconceptions in science. Sixt een seventh-grade science classes were matched on the basis of pretest scores and assigned to one of four conditions in the 2 x 2 factorial design. Cooperative students worked in groups of four: one high-abilit y student, two medium-ability students, and one low-ability student. T he 6-day instructional treatment was followed by a post-test and attit ude survey on Day 7. Students scored significantly higher on the post- test under individual learning than under cooperative learning. Studen ts generally preferred cooperative learning, although high-ability boy s were an exception to this pattern. The higher achievement under indi vidual learning may be due to the nature of the learning task and to o bserved differences in both teacher and student behaviors under indivi dual and cooperative conditions. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.