The effects of controversy, concurrence seeking, and individualistic learning on achievement and attitude change

The effects of cooperative‐controversy, cooperative‐concurrence seeking, and individualistic learning were compared on motivation, achievement, and attitudes toward the science subject being studied. Eighty‐four fifth‐grade students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for sex and reading ability. In all three conditions students studied whether wolves should or should not be a protected species. The results indicate that cooperative‐controversy resulted in the highest achievement, greatest motivation to learn more about wolves, more positive attitudes toward the wolf, and more positive attitudes toward controversy.