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 principles of this methodology, an intervention was designed to be implemented online during the confinement period in the Road Infrastructure of the UCN (n=40). The data collected shows that the operation of cooperative learning in online environments has the same benefits in terms of 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 coordinate their actions to achieve said purpose. The articulation of their individual resources-capabilities, the interaction that is generated between the members during the process, and the preliminary results that are 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 documenting the effects of this didactic proposal on 4 elements: the participation rates, the improvement of the learning pace, the increase in the academic performance, and the satisfaction of the participants. The increase of 0.5 points in qualifications, of 17% in the approval rate, or reaching 85% of the learning compared to the minimum required 80% are some of the data that, together with the participation and satisfaction rates, lead to consider the extension of the proposal to other modules and subjects.