Perceived Benefits Of A Community College Cooperative Education Program

Author : Marcia Fay Hunter
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (959 download)

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Download or read book Perceptions and Use of Cooperative Learning by Community College Faculty Members written by Marcia Fay Hunter and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The researcher of this study examined the perceptions and use of cooperative learning by community college faculty members. The researcher used the survey method as part of a quantitative, descriptive research. The participants for the study were 148 faculty members who taught at least one face-to-face class during the spring semester of 2011 at a southern urban community college. Cooperative learning brings students together to work in small groups to enhance their own learning and that of their peers. Research identifies it as a pedagogical and andragogical approach that increases the academic and social gains of students. There is limited evidence of community college faculty use of cooperative learning in educational environments, which might increase the success of students at this level. However, the diverse student population of the community college suggests that cooperative learning may be an effective teaching strategy for use at this level of higher education. The findings revealed that only 17% of the faculty reported to use cooperative learning at least "largely" or on a regular basis in their current classes. However, the faculty reported quality in their use of cooperative learning was considerably higher, with as much as 50% at least "largely" structuring their classes to enable students to work actively together and 67% reporting that their students at least "largely" actively participated in their learning groups, thus ensuring the key cooperative learning principle of positive interdependence. Sixty-seven percent of the faculty members also reported that students in their cooperative learning groups at least "largely" demonstrated the cooperative learning principle of individual accountability by completing their share of work. Faculty perceptions for this study were grouped based on cost of implementation, value of cooperative learning, and expectancy of success with the use of cooperative learning. The faculty reported high levels of perception in all perception categories. The results of the study indicated that the community college faculty members do not perceive cooperative learning as a costly instructional strategy and that they perceive cooperative learning as a valued teaching strategy. They also have high expectancy of success for its use with college students. .