Effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures on computer-assisted instruction.

The impact of computer-assisted cooperative, competitive, and individualistic instruction was compared on student achievement and attitudes. Seventy-three eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to conditions stratifying for sex and ability. In all conditions students completed the same computer-assisted instructional unit. Results indicate that computer-assisted cooperative instruction promotes greater quantity and quality of daily achievement, more successful problem solving, and higher performance on factual recognition, application, and problem-solving test items than do computer-assisted competitive or individualistic learning. The attitudes of females, compared with males, were adversely affected within the competitive condition.