To Cooperate or Not to Cooperate in CAI: That Is the Question

This study addressed the question of whether learning with a computer in small-group settings would produce higher levels of achievement, attitudes, and prosocial orientation than learning with a computer in individualized settings. Participants were 115 junior high school students who used computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in language arts. One third of the subjects were randomly assigned to the individualized-CAI condition, and the others learned the same program for the same duration of time in homogeneous pairs. Results showed that the students who learned in pairs became more prosocially oriented toward their teammates, possessed stronger attitudes toward cooperative learning, and tended to score higher on the achievement test than those who experienced the CAI individually. The implications for CAI and cooperative-learning methods are discussed.