CHILDRENS COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR AND INTERACTIONS IN TRAINED AND UNTRAINED WORK GROUPS IN REGULAR CLASSROOMS

This study examined group and individual factors that facilitate chang es in cooperation and learning outcomes in trained and untrained work groups of elementary school-age children. The study had two foci. The first was to determine if the cooperative behaviors and interactions o f children in classroom groups who were trained in cooperative learnin g skins were different from those of children who were given no traini ng, and the second was to investigate small group interactions and ach ievement in these groups over time. The results showed that there were observable differences between student interactions in the two condit ions and these differences were maintained over time. Compared with ch ildren in the untrained groups, those in the trained groups were consi stently more cooperative and helpful to each other; they actively trie d to involve each other in the learning task by using language which w as more inclusive (e.g., frequent use of ''we''), and they gave more e xplanations to assist each other as they worked together. It appeared that as the children worked together over time, they became more respo nsive to the learning needs of each other. Furthermore, the children i n the trained groups performed significantly better on the learning ou tcomes questionnaire than those in the untrained groups. (C) 1997 Soci ety for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.