Putting the Me in Team: Examining the Benefits of Cooperative Learning Strategies on Student Motivation and Success

In the classroom today, there is an increased emphasis on teaching students in a way that calls on them to work with each other in order to master content on their own. Cooperative learning, in essence, incorporates models that encourage the development of student-student relationships as well as student engagement and motivation in the classroom. The aim of my research study was to implement several different cooperative learning strategies, specifically Student Teams-Achievement Divisions, in order to measure student success on two different levels. The two levels will be student motivation in the classroom as well as overall classroom camaraderie among students and their peers. These two levels were measured using Likert scale surveys, as well as constructed short-response surveys, in order to gauge student opinions regarding their individual motivation and their level of comfort with their classmates. Additionally, students were observed during class STAD activities and field observations were recorded. The results of the study showed that although students still felt hesitant toward putting their trust in classmates, overall they felt more comfortable working in groups and recognized that working independently did not produce their best work