Teacher misconceptions and understanding of cooperative learning: An intervention study

Abstract

The study presents the results of an educational intervention during in-service training of secondary school teachers in Cyprus, which led to participantś development. The aim was twofold, first to reveal teacherś conception about cooperative learning and second to help teachers through simulation of cooperative learning to construct the characteristics that differentiate it from traditional group work. The results of the study indicated that: teachers have negative attitudes towards cooperative learning because they do not know how to ensure collaboration, coherence and interaction among members of the group; their attitudes changed gradually during the action research study; and simulation of cooperative learning revealed certain internal and external characteristics for it to lead to learning outcomes for students. © 2008-2009.