The effects of cooperative learning and the learning cycle on students' locus-of-control

This study investigated the influence of three student-centered classroom teaching approaches upon student locus of control beliefs. It sought statistical correlations between the respective exposures of students in three high school science classes to Cooperative Learning, Learning Cycle, and combined Cooperative Learning/Learning Cycle instructional approaches, with student gain scores on the Sense of Control over Performance (SCOP) sub-scale of the standardized Student Attitude Measure (SAM) assessment instrument. The study sample consisted of sixty-five (N = 65) tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students comprising four science classes taught by the researcher. Immediately prior to experimental interventions, all subjects completed the SCOP and adjusted mean scores were computed for each of the four classes which were subsequently designated as three experimental groups and one comparison group. The researcher than exposed each of the three experimental groups to one of three alternative learning approaches for a period of fifteen weeks. Shortly thereafter, all subjects again completed the SCOP. Pre- and post-test group mean scores were subjected to Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Dunnett's Multiple Comparison Procedure treatments to determine the influence of the experimental interventions upon subjects' sense of control over performance.;When compared with a matched comparison group receiving science course instruction through conventional expository methods, the Cooperative Learning and Cooperative Learning/Learning Cycle group students registered significantly greater mean gains in sense of control over performance, but the Learning Cycle group did not. Study results yield the qualified finding that relatively brief and narrow classroom exposure to a group learning approach can induce a shift in student control beliefs toward an internal orientation by enhancing self-esteem and perceived peer support. In light of the established correlation between student internal control expectancies and academic achievement reported in the existing literature, this finding appears to have meaningful implications for educational practice. Given the comparatively small size of this study sample (N = 65), non-random sampling, and other limitations, study conclusions about the causal influence of student-centered learning approaches upon student locus of control orientation await the confirmation of additional research.