Social Competencies and Cooperative Group Work A Correlational Study of the Relation Between Social Competencies and Learning in Undergraduate Teaching

In cooperative learning settings the positive interdependence makes high demands on interaction of learners. Quality of interaction is decisive for an effective exchange of knowledge and collaborative knowledge construction. A correlative study was conducted to examine whether individual social competencies of undergraduate students influence knowledge acquisition in a cooperative learning setting, the jigsaw. The jigsaw comprises of three stages differing in the distribution of knowledge and therefore differing in the amount of positive interdependence and the interaction requirements. A knowledge test was conducted in each of the three stages the results of which yielded the criteria of the regression analysis. Social competencies were measured by self-reported questionnaires as well as global rating from an observational setting. These formed the predictors of the regression analysis. Control variables were verbal competence, prior knowledge, and experience with group work. The three stages of the jigsaw yielded different relations between social competencies and knowledge acquisition. Whereas in the first stage (shared knowledge) aspects of assertion were of special importance for knowledge acquisition, in the second stage (unshared knowledge) aspects of assertion as well as aspects of adjustment were significantly related to knowledge acquisition. Cooperative skills significantly predicted knowledge acquisition in the third stage (collaborative knowledge construction) of the jigsaw.