The effects of trust and constructive controversy on student achievement and attitude in online cooperative learning environments

This study investigated the effects of trust and constructive controversy on student achievement and attitude in online cooperative learning environments. Students in one university course were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups after they took part in a common initial workshop on general cooperative learning skills. The “trust” and the “constructive controversy” groups received subsequent associated skills training. The overall results indicated that after each group received the treatment during online cooperative group activities, the “trust” groups had significantly higher achievement than the “constructive controversy” groups. In addition, the “trust” groups had significantly more positive attitudes toward online cooperative learning than the “constructive controversy” groups. Specifically, using “trust” building strategies was significantly more effective than using “constructive controversy” strategies for improving the 'openness and sharing' and 'acceptance and support' components of student attitudes in online cooperative learning environments.