Cooperative learning effects on teamwork attitudes in clinical laboratory science students

To evaluate clinical laboratory science (CLS) student attitudes toward teamwork when using cooperative learning (CL) as compared to individual learning (IL) in a course and to determine if learning method affects student attitudes toward the course itself.

This was a multi-institutional study involving eight classrooms in seven states. The effects of CL and IL on student attitudes were compared for 216 student participants.

One group of students learned the course material through a CL approach while a second group of students learned via a traditional IL approach. For each course, the instructor, class material, and examination content was identical for the CL and IL students; the only variable was learning method.

Student attitudes toward teamwork and toward the course were evaluated with a 35-item Attitude Questionnaire administered as a posttest. Mean scores for the CL and IL groups were compared using the Student t-test for independent samples.

No significant difference was seen between the CL and IL students when assessing the first 30 questions on student attitudes toward teamwork (means = 98.42 and 98.22, respectively) when all institutions were combined. Comparable results were seen for each of the eight institutions. For the five questions comparing attitudes toward the course itself, there usually was no significant difference in attitude between CL and IL students. The only classrooms where CL students had more positive attitudes were those with instructors who had more than 10 years experience with CL.

Results suggest that CL produces similar student attitudes toward teamwork and toward a CLS course as does IL.