In this study, we investigated the effects of grouping with respect to the level of students' agreeableness on 6th graders' science achievement, self-efficacy, and science learning motivation in cooperative learning. Three classes (72 students) from an elementary school were randomly assigned to a control group and treatment groups. An agreeableness test, self-efficacy test, and science learning motivation test were administered as pretests. The students of the treatment groups were grouped either homogeneously or heterogeneously on the basis of their agreeableness levels and were taught with a cooperative learning strategy, whereas the students of the control group were randomly grouped and were taught with a traditional method. The cooperative learning intervention lasted for 5 weeks (16 class periods). After the instructions, tests regarding achievement, self-efficacy, and science learning motivation were administered as posttests. The results indicated that the students of the homogeneous and/or the heterogeneous groups significantly outperformed those of the control group in the achievement test. However, students' achievement was not influenced by the grouping method on the basis of students' agreeableness. No significantly differences among the groups were found in the self-efficacy and science learning motivation.
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