An Educational Psychology Success Story: Social Interdependence Theory and Cooperative Learning
David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson | Educational Researcher 2009
In a Nutshell 🥜
Johnson and Johnson1 investigate how cooperative learning can be beneficial. The paper uses social interdependence theory as the foundation of cooperative learning efforts and discusses elements that promote cooperation such as positive interdependence, accountability and responsibility, promotive interaction, appropriate use of social skills, and group processing.
The paper finds that cooperative learning can lead to advantages in effort to achieve, quality of interpersonal relationships, and psychological health. Finally, the paper discusses how social interdependence theory can be applied in practice, such as by operationalizing teaching procedures and creating cooperative schools.
Some Thoughts ðŸ’
The paper is well-written and well-structured.
I like how the paper is sectioned into various stages, such as providing theoretical grounding, discussing factors that encourage cooperation, the beneficial aspects of cooperation, and how cooperation can be realized in practice.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational researcher, 38(5), 365-379.