Cooperative learning as an approach for educating diabetic patients and their spouses

The purpose of this quasi-experimental pilot study was to investigate the effectiveness of applying cooperative learning theory when educating persons with diabetes and their spouses. The target population were patient-spouse pairs who had attended a diabetic outpatient program within the past 2 years. Members of the experimental group employed cooperative learning strategies to review information about diabetes; members of the control group were provided with a lecture reviewing information about diabetes. Results suggested an increase in knowledge about diabetes in both groups. Although the experimental group reported a favorable attitude toward cooperative learning, the results did not demonstrate that the cooperative learning instructional method contributed to more improved learning than the lecture method. Limitations of the study methodology are discussed to better understand the results.