Chapter 11: Cooperation vs. Competition

Chapter 11 discussed the idea of cooperation versus competition. According to our textbook, cooperation was an important component of an effective team. While this was something true, the book also talked about how sometimes, cooperation was stifled by the idea of competition. There were teams who thought that competition was more effective than cooperation when it came to doing group work. In other words, they believed that competition was something that “gets the work done”, moreso than cooperation. This was something that I was interested in and wanted to find out more about, especially in a school setting.


A study was done by Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, and Mona Ortega-Medina on cooperation versus competition. They tested 16 children from 8 to 9 and half years old. They divided the children into different groups—groups that were tutored competitively and groups tutored cooperatively. Their findings showed that the children who were tutored cooperatively were more successful when it came to their tests and was able to improve their scores than those who were taught competitively by 92%. They concluded that when it came to schooling, it was better for students to learn in a more cooperative classroom than that of a competitive classroom.

Source:
Leasher Dennis Madrid, Madeline Canas, & Mona Ortega-Medina. (2007). Effects of Team Competition Versus Team Cooperation in Classwide Peer Tutoring. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(3), 155-160,192. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.