Developmental and motivational perspectives on cooperative learning: a reconciliation

Research on cooperative learning strategies has been done from 2 major theoretical perspectives, developmental and motivational. The developmental perspective, based on Piagetian and Vygotskian theories, holds that task-focused interaction among students enhances learning by creating cognitive conflicts and by exposing students to higher-quality thinking that is within their proximal zones of development. In contrast, motivational theories of cooperative learning emphasize that rewarding groups on the basis of the individual learning of all group members creates peer norms and sanctions favoring achievement-related efforts and active helping of peers. In the developmental view, incentives for group learning efforts are unnecessary or harmful, while in the motivationalist view they are crucial to enhanced learning outcomes. This article reviews research bearing on both the developmental and the motivational perspectives, and presents a theory reconciling these perspectives that emphasizes the role of group rewards for individual learning in motivating students to provide high-quality assistance and elaborated explanations to their group-mates.