Cooperative Learning in Virtual High School English Language Arts

Abstract

Cooperative learning (CL) has the potential to increase students' college and career readiness with benefits including higher student achievement, higher critical thinking, and greater psychological health (Johnson & Johnson, 1983, 1989; Kramarski & Mevarech, 2003; Natasi & Clements, 1991; Webb & Mastergeorge, 2003). This study explores student attitudes toward cooperative learning in two virtual high school English language arts (ELA) courses which occurred as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing action research methodology, the authors gained valuable insights about structuring cooperative learning in an online learning environment effectively. The study took place during the first eight weeks of two tenth grade ELA courses, one standard and one honors. Findings suggest many factors influence the implementation of effective cooperative learning within the virtual ELA classroom, including student attitudes and relationships, instructional time, class size, interdependence and group accountability, task completion, and modeling and practice.