A Study of Two Techniques for Teaching Introductory Geography: Traditional Approach versus Cooperative Learning in the University Classroom

Abstract This study was a collaborative effort between the geography area of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Educational Leadership at Valdosta State University. The project was conducted to determine whether students in an introductory course would benefit from the use of cooperative learning groups based on their learning styles, hemisphericity, and gender compared to students taught with a traditional lecture/inquiry approach. Students who enrolled in World Regional Geography were separated into a control class, which utilized the traditional lecture/inquiry approach, and an experimental class, which implemented the cooperative learning approach. Both classes began with 40 students and were taught during the mid-morning hours by the same two professors. Although no significant gain was realized at the conclusion of the study, 36 students remained in the experimental class while only 26 students remained in the control class.