The Effects of Cooperative Learning on the Development of Cross-racial Friendships

This study involved the investigation of the Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) cooperative learning method designed to promote cross-racial friendships. This study replicated and extended an earlier study by Slavin (1979) that reported more increases in cross-racial friendship choices by students experiencing cooperative learning compared to those in a control condition using a sociometric nomination procedure. The ability of sociometric nomination devices to represent increases in cross-racial friendships was questioned. This study investigated two additional dependent measures (Interpersonal Relationship Assessment Technique, IRAT) that were hypothesized to be more representative of friendship than those currently used in the literature. Participants were 92 seventh grade students at a desegregated middle school. The experimental group studied worksheets in 4 to 5 member biracial teams and received recognition based on the sum of members' quiz scores. Control students studied alone and received individual scores only. Comparisons of these groups examined the effects of these instructional formats 2on multiple measures of friendship. Results indicated that when using the traditional nomination measurement, black males reported significantly more cross-racial friendships than black males in traditional classes. Cooperative instruction did not produce significant effects for white males, black females or white females.

This study involved the investigation of the Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) cooperative learning method designed to promote cross-racial friendships.