Teaching of Psychology, Ahead of Print.
Background:Researchers suggest benefits for cooperative learning, but often fail to control for choosing to engage cooperatively, ACT scores or early course performance.Objective:To observe the effects of choosing cooperative work on exam performance in an Introduction to Psychology Course, while controlling for early exam performance and ACT.Method:Data from 261 students assessed the interaction between choice to work cooperatively, alone or being required to work alone while controlling for ACT Score and performance on early tests, respectively.Results:We observed an interaction between Group and ACT on final exam scores, indicating students who worked cooperatively showed the greatest exam benefits at lower ACT scores. Additionally, a trend toward a significant interaction was found between group and early exam performance, indicating a possible benefit for choosing to work cooperatively for low performers.Conclusion:Choosing to engage in cooperative learning may decrease ACT-indicated skill differences and early exam success on final exam performance.Teaching Implications:To decrease the impact of ACT-influenced effects on exam scores, choice to complete cooperative learning activities should be offered in Introduction to Psychology courses.