Cooperative Learning in Virtual High School English Language Arts: An Action Research Study

Introduction

To establish the context for this study, it is important to explain that its origins grew out of the relationship established between the authors in a graduate research course. Author 1 drafted an action research proposal for their final project in author 2’s summer course, after which, author 2 encouraged them to use the upcoming school year to implement the study as a thesis for their graduate program. Author 2 served as a mentor for author 1’s research efforts, in addition to being a co-author as the study was composed for publication. At the time of the study, Author 1 worked at a “bring your own device” magnet high school. Student devices ranged from mobile phones to iPads to laptops. While digital content and learning technologies were present in their English language arts (ELA) classes prior to the pandemic, the shift to mandated remote learning highlighted many new obstacles for teachers and students. Learning online requires students to adapt to new methods of working together. Consequently, teachers should explicitly teach cooperative learning (CL). CL is an instructional practice focused on collaboration to help teachers prepare students for life after high school with benefits including prosocial values, higher-level reasoning, critical thinking, and metacognitive thought (Johnson & Johnson, 1989; Kramarski & Mevarech, 2003; Natasi & Clements, 1991; Webb & Mastergeorge, 2003). Additionally, students experience a higher transfer of knowledge and skills, high self-esteem, the ability to appreciate and consider a variety of perspectives, and greater psychological health (Johnson & Johnson, 1983, 2009; Slavin, 1980, 1991).

For schools to become more student-centered, teachers must consider how students are interacting with one another and the impacts of those interactions on student achievement, motivation to learn, and attitudes toward learning, peers, and self (Johnson & Johnson, n.d.). Schools dedicate substantial attention to resources, technology, textbooks, and curriculum alignment. However, student response to curriculum, content, and their role in this process is often overlooked. The benefit of any pedagogical approach is dependent on context. Two crucial components within an educational setting are teacher-student relationships and student-student relationships. Johnson and Johnson (n.d.) argue, “How teachers structure student-student interaction patterns has a lot to say about how well students learn, how they feel about school and the teacher, how they feel about each other, and how much self-esteem they have” (para. 1). This oft-overlooked aspect of instruction is crucial to CL implementation.