Cooperative Learning Environments: Effects on Academic Attitudes of Gifted Students

The attitudes of academically gifted students and the general cohort toward cooperative learning and academic school subjects were studied. Three hypotheses were tested: (a) in classes where cooperative learning is used, nonidentified children will exhibit more positive attitudes toward cooperative learning methods than their more academically able peers; (b) boys will exhibit more positive attitudes toward cooperative learning than girls; (c) Gifted children, in contrast to non-gifted peers, will exhibit more positive attitudes in settings where cooperative learning is seldom or never used than in settings where such instruction is frequently used. Data obtained from 28 classes of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in four schools generally supported hypotheses (a) and (b), but not (c). Although not a strong finding, overall attitudes toward school subjects were most positive in classes where cooperative learning was used sparingly as an instructional supplement.