Cooperative and Collaborative Strategies in Blended and Online Learning Environments

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of a study that investigated the differential effects of cooperative versus collaborative instructional strategies and blended versus fully online delivery methods on various aspects of academic community. Measures include the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey instrument, individual and group achievement, student satisfaction with process and product, and their value of community. The treatment was a group-work module in a university foundations-level instructional technology course (n=134). Results suggest that cooperative and collaborative strategies in online and blended environments are equally effective in regard to individual achievement, but that blended cooperative learners perform significantly poorer on group projects. Students were equally satisfied with their groups’ process and solution and the group activity did not significantly change students’ value of connectedness. Students did not differ according to their perceptions of social presence and cognitive presence, but significant differences were found in perceptions of teaching presence. The course module design highlights the essential elements typical of design strategy based on typical instructional design processes, while using the Community of Inquiry as a theoretical framework that enables “operationalization” of the instructional design process. The design emphasized teaching and cognitive presence but not social presence.