The effects of social acquaintance and gender on performance and attitudinal outcomes within cooperative computer-based instruction

摘要

This study examined the effects of social acquaintance among paired learners in cooperative computer-based instruction, on their learning gains and affective reactions. A total of 22 freshmen students participated in the study with two levels of acquaintance between subject research design. Results revealed that in general, social acquaintance did not influence learning, whereas those in the acquainted group believed at a significantly higher level that they had good communication with their peers and were able to follow them as compared to those in the nonacquainted groups. While there was no difference between females and males in their post application test scores, males significantly outperformed females in the post recognition test. Also, there was a significant interaction found between gender and acquaintance. Findings and the future research directions were discussed regarding computer-based cooperative learning.