The effects of cooperative learning on trait emotional intelligence and academic achievement of Spanish primary school students

Differences in the effect of adolescents' strategies for expressing academic emotions on academic emotions and peer acceptance in competitive and cooperative situations

Two studies were conducted to explore the differences in the effect of adolescents' strategies for expressing academic emotions. In Study 1 a total of 65 adolescents participated in the study of the relationship between academic emotions and strategies for expressing them in competitive and cooperative situations. In Study 2 a total of 113 adolescents participated in the study of the relationship between the strategies and peer acceptance in competitive and cooperative situations. The results showed that the relationship between academic emotions and strategies for expressing them in competitive and cooperative situations was situation stable while the relationship between the strategies and peer acceptance was situation specific. Furthermore, emotional expression may be more adaptive when experiencing positive academic emotions. When adolescents experience negative academic emotions, expressing them is more adaptive from the perspective of their own academic emotional experience; whereas suppressing them is more adaptive from the perspective of peer acceptance. These findings (a) clarify how to use more adaptive strategies for emotional expression in various situations and (b) serve as a guide for helping adolescents use strategies to express emotions flexibly according to the situation.

Cooperative school climates are positively linked with socio-emotional skills: A Cross-National Study

BACKGROUND

Socio-emotional skills are critical to life outcomes such as achievement, well-being and job success. However, existing research has mostly focused on the consequences of socio-emotional skills, with less attention devoted to the role of school climate in the deployment of these skills.

AIMS

This study investigated the role of school climate in socio-emotional skills. More specifically, we investigated whether cooperative or competitive school climates are associated with students' socio-emotional skills.

SAMPLE

Our study utilized data from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, collected from 10 cities across nine countries. Participants were 60,985 students, including 31,187 10-year-olds (49.70% females) and 29,798 15-year-olds (51.6% females).

METHODS

We conducted multilevel structural equation modelling to test whether cooperative and competitive climates were associated with socio-emotional skills. These skills include five broad domain skills and 15 more specific skills: task performance (self-control, responsibility and persistence), emotion regulation (stress resistance, emotional control and optimism), collaboration (empathy, trust and cooperation), open-mindedness (tolerance, curiosity and creativity) and engaging with others (sociability, assertiveness and energy).

RESULTS

Our findings indicated a positive relationship between a cooperative climate and socio-emotional skills. In contrast, the relationship between a competitive climate and socio-emotional skills was primarily negative.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the contrasting roles of cooperative and competitive climates in students' socio-emotional skills.

The Impact of Cooperative Learning Method on the Oral Proficiency of Learners of the Training Program for English Tourist Guides

Oral proficiency is the core element of training courses for English tourist guides. This ability needs to be addressed in training program for English tourist guides. Cooperative learning method is widely used by educators as a teaching method, but rarely used to improve oral proficiency. A quasi-experimental design involving 60 participants was conducted to investigate and examine the effectiveness of cooperative learning method on the oral proficiency of learners in the English tourist guide training program. There were 30 learners in the control group and the experimental group, respectively. The experimental group adopted cooperative learning method, while the control group adopted traditional approach, in both of which pre-test and post-test were conducted. The results of the study showed that the impact of teaching with the cooperative learning method on the oral proficiency of learners of the training program for English tourist guides was higher than that of teaching with the traditional approach. The importance of the cooperative learning method in the training program for English tourist guides is highlighted as a reference for educational institutions.