Whether Classroom Sessions Based on Cooperative Learning Will Change University Students’ Attitude toward Learning:

Focusing on Autonomous and Proactive Learning

Abstract

  The objective of this study is to determine whether classroom sessions based on cooperative learning will make university students more autonomous and proactive in their learning, and what students will learn by participating in such classroom sessions. This study involved seven 100-minute classroom sessions. The students were asked, before and after these classroom sessions, to write freely in response to the following questions: “What kind of a place should universities be in order to realize a Japanese society in which diverse cultures coexist?” and “What should university learning be like?” The students’ free descriptions ① were examined quantitatively based on whether they were “heteronomous proposals” or “autonomous proposals,” while ② the change of students’ learning was analyzed qualitatively with the use of the KJ method. The results indicated that classroom sessions based on cooperative learning may broaden university students’ perspective toward learning regardless of whether their learning is heteronomous or autonomous in nature. It was also shown that such classes may encourage students to reflect objectively on their own learning, while strengthening their awareness of their involvement with others and of their own responsibilities in learning. It was inferred that cooperative learning transforms not only the learners’ knowledge and skills, but also their awareness of, and attitude toward, learning.