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The purpose of this study was to further determine the classroom learning preferences of elementary school students. A measure of cooperative, competitive and individualistic learning preferences (The Social Interdependence Scales, Johnson, & Norem-Hebeisen, 1979), was administered to 138 5th and 6th graders (66 African American and 72 White) attending a school in a low-income community. Results indicated that overall, participants preferred cooperative learning to competitive and individualistic learning. However, African American students reported significantly higher preferences for cooperative learning than did their White counterparts, while the reverse was true for individualistic and competitive learning. Implications and relevance for classroom practices are discussed. It is also argued that future research should include repeated testing of learning preferences and expansion of the work across a wide age range.
Keywords: learning preferences, African American elementary school children, classroom environments
Learning preferences have been referred to as inclinations toward the type of strategies and structures students believe would optimize their learning (Johnson & Engelhard, 1992). Much of the literature on student learning preference evolved from the research of David and Roger Johnson (1981, 1983, 1988, and 1998). Their initial research at the University of Minnesota detailed the development and utilization of an instrument used to discern elementary school students' preferences for cooperative, competitive and individualistic learning. Many of their studies found cooperative learning to be highly preferred among elementary school children in general (Johnson & Johnson, 1983; Johnson, Johnson, & Anderson. 1983; Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981; Johnson & Norem-Hebeisen, 1979; Norem-Hebeisen & Johnson, 1981; Skon, Johnson, & Johnson, 1981). However, little research has investigated whether the preference pattern for cooperative, competitive and individualistic learning structures are uniform across divergent populations of students. In particular, a review of the literature reveals that many of the research studies did not examine variation in reports of student learning preference as a function of race or ethnic background
To boost academic performance, many educators have turned to strategies of cooperative learning (Slavin, 1983). Cooperative learning exists when individuals work together to achieve combined learning group outcomes (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1992). The current literature is replete with research evidencing the facultative effects of cooperative learning among students in a variety of academic settings (Gibson & Campbell. 2000; Onwuegbuzie,...