Increase in academic performance due to the application of cooperative learning strategies: A case in construction engineering

Abstract

Cooperative learning has positive effects on student motivation, participation, and performance. Following the methodology’s principles, an intervention was designed to be implemented online during confinement in a university subject called Transport Infrastructure (n=40). The data collected shows that the operation of cooperative learning in online environments has the same benefits in improving satisfaction, learning pace, and performance. These findings have implications for future instructional designs in hybrid or online modalities. The cooperative work teaching and learning methodology, if effective, will involve the conscious and sustained effort of a small group of students toward a pre-established goal, where each of its components assumes roles and coordinates their actions to achieve said purpose. In addition, the articulation of their resources-capabilities, the interaction generated between the members during the process, and the preliminary results obtained, promote a greater commitment-responsibility for their work and interdependence and support among their peers, raising the threshold between individual and group. The article allows the effects of this didactic proposal on four elements: the participation rate, the improvement of the learning pace, the increase in academic performance, and the participants’ satisfaction. The results are an increase of 0.5 points in qualifications, 17% in approval rate, and 85% in learning compared to the minimum required (80%). These results, together with the participation and satisfaction rates, lead to considering the extension of the proposal to other teaching modules and subjects