Does cooperative e-learning improve graduate student project outcomes?

Abstract

Cooperative learning was applied in an online graduate project management course to compare the effectiveness of asynchronous versus synchronous online team meetings. A quasi-experiment was constructed to allocate students to project teams while ensuring there was a balance of requisite skills, namely systems analysis and design along with HTML/Javascript programming. The project was constructed with a level of difficulty that required cooperative learning for high marks. The treatment in the experiment required the control group to use an asynchronous discussion forum for project meetings, and the test group to use synchronous video, audio, and text messaging for their team meetings. Prior ability was measured and numerous experimental controls were imposed.