Cooperative Learning

This study examined the relationship between students’ verbal abilities and the memorial benefits of assuming either a teacher or a learner role during a cooperative learning interaction. College students studied a text on human biology and were then randomly assigned to either a teacher or a learner role. Next, participants were paired with a same-sex peer who was assigned the opposite role; the pair then cooperatively studied the information. One day later, students completed a series of tests to assess their memories of the material. Results suggest that high verbal ability participants benefited more by assuming the learner’s role, whereas low verbal ability participants tended to benefit more from assuming the role of a teacher.