The purpose of this study was to examine whether cooperative versus collaborative strategies used for a group project had differential effects on students\u27 achievement, process and solution satisfaction, value and preference for collaboration, and perceptions of community of inquiry in online and blended environments. The study sample consisted of teacher education students enrolled in a technology integration course. Students\u27 age, academic level, online experience, and teaching experience were used as covariates in an effort to identify differential effects associated with student characteristics. Cooperative and collaborative strategies were differentiated by the amount of structure imposed by the instructor as well as the design of the group-based and activity. Cooperative strategies were characterized as highly structured, with assigned roles and scaffolding of teamwork skills and group processing, Collaborative strategies were characterized as less structured, meaning that groups were be encouraged to take on specific roles or divide the task. Additionally, teamwork skills and group processing were scaffolded. Statistical procedures that were employed included a factorial ANCOVAs and factorial MANCOVAs.
The findings show that cooperative and collaborative learning strategies are equally effective in online and blended environments in regard to individual achievement, but cooperative strategies are less effective with regard to group achievement. Student satisfaction with the group process and solution did not differ according to course delivery method or learning strategy. Student perceptions of social presence and cognitive presence did not differ according to course delivery method or learning strategy, but teaching presence differed significantly by course delivery method. Of particular note was the finding that blended cooperative students had lower perceptions of the design and organization of the instruction in comparison to the other treatment groups, a result that mirrors the results found for group project grades
