EFFECTS OF COOPERATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING DURING LEARNER-CONTROLLED COMPUTER-BASED INSTRUCTION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on the achiev ement, option use, attitudes, and interactions of college students of instructional method (cooperative vs. individual) and learner control of options during computer-based instruction. The students worked alon e or with a partner to complete a computer lesson that provided either a full program with the option to bypass instruction (full-minus cond ition) or a lean program with the option to select additional instruct ion (lean-plus condition). The students in the full-minus condition us ed significantly more optional practice items and spent more time on p ractice than the students in the lean-plus condition did. The cooperat ive dyads spent significantly longer on practice items and selected si gnificantly more elaborative feedback items during selected-response p ractice than the students working alone did. However, no significant a chievement differences were found for instructional method or learner- control mode. The results suggest that the achievement benefits of coo perative learning found in previous research may not apply to situatio ns in which mature students are provided with an instructional environ ment with many learner-controlled options.