Dissertation
FOSTERING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING: EXPLORING PERCEPTIONS, PRACTICES, SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES AMONG SECONDARY EDUCATION TEACHER CANDIDATES
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
12/2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000008389
Abstract
Individual responsibility is a key component of cooperative learning that demonstrates how each group member is responsible for their own learning and for supporting the learning of others. It involves taking ownership of one’s progress, contributing to group work, and ensuring that all members fulfill their assigned duties to achieve a collective goal. This concept promotes active participation, collaboration, deeper engagement, and a strong understanding of the subject matter. This study employed a qualitative case study design to investigate how secondary education teacher candidates perceive and implement individual responsibility in cooperative learning settings. Data was gathered through interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. The findings revealed three main themes: perceptions of individual responsibility, strategies to promote it, and the successes and challenges encountered. Codes that were consistently repeated under the themes mentioned above included: motivation through peer responsibility, learning through reflection and peer perspectives, active participation through collective commitment, preparing for future collaboration in teaching, fostering responsibility through communication, teaching roles and group expectations, the role of familiarity and trust, enjoyment in group work, navigating emotional barriers, and promoting fairness and shared responsibility. Overall, the study highlights the positive impact of cooperative learning when individual responsibility is emphasized. A key implication is that secondary education teacher candidates can apply individual responsibility within group tasks to improve participation and collaboration in the classroom.
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Details
- Title
- FOSTERING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY IN COOPERATIVE LEARNING
- Creators
- Humberto Jimenez Fernandez
- Contributors
- Thomas L. Salsbury (Co-Chair)Sarah N Newcomer (Co-Chair)Tariq Akmal (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Teaching and Learning
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 175
- Identifiers
- 99901357690001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation