CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
CURRICULUM RESOURCE CENTER
WORKING PAPERS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING
JULY 2006
The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding
in a Course On Biodiversity And Sustainable Development
Nadejda Andreev
Institute of Zoology, Moldova Academy of Sciences;
Department of Human and Animal Biology,
Moldova State University
nadejda.andreev@gmail.com
http://cdc.d-asta.com
ABSTRACT
The current paper discusses the findings on the influence of cooperative learning on conceptual understanding
and knowledge gain in a course of biodiversity and sustainable development. As learning assessment
techniques, the presence/absence of key concepts were used, their interconnectedness and complexity in
relation to the course materials, the pre-course and post-course written assignments were studied. Role play,
discussions, debates and group projects were applied as cooperative learning techniques to increase motivation
and facilitate understanding of key course concepts. The conclusions traced from this study demonstrate that
cooperative learning offers a gain in conceptual understanding as a greater level of interconnectedness and
integration between key biodiversity and sustainable development issues is achieved. Students who were
identified as actively involved in cooperative learning showed a lower frequency of weak arguments and
inadequate examples than those who were less participative and performed the tasks given individually.
Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Introduction
Assessing student learning is an important task for university teachers as it gives us the main
directions about planning and implementing a new course and also determines how effective
the instructional strategies applied are (Eber-May et al. 2003). My approach to student
learning and conceptual change is based on the theoretical background of constructivist
theory as it has been applied by other educators who share my disciplinary background.
Constructivist approach to learning assumes that the learner comes to the learning situation
with an existing conceptual framework (Zhonghua, 2005). According to Eber-May et al.
(2003) learning is the result of interaction between student’s existent conceptual framework
and the new set of knowledge, skills and beliefs added during the teaching process such as a
university course. However, the existent mental model of a topic may sometimes serve as a
barrier for knowledge gain and deep learning. In order to avoid such a situation, the
conceptual change theory recommends the use of the instructional strategies which raise
epistemological awareness and learner motivation, therefore facilitating conceptual change
(Rebich and Gautier, 2005).
An important task of interdisciplinary courses such as biodiversity and sustainable
development is integrating different types of concepts and ideas. With an increasing range of
information resources and under the present rate of development of technology and science
the conservation practitioners need not only to memorize large amounts of information but
also to be able to integrate the concepts and see the trends. For their future career in the
field, they also need to be able to communicate the information to the public, cooperate with
different stakeholders and take practical decisions. Traditional teacher-centered model,
where teacher is the single expert and the provider of knowledge does not adequately
provide students with lifelong skills important for the future profession. This model adopts
mainly a surface approach to learning, focused on memorization of discrete elements, which
is shortly forgotten after the exam (Zhonghua, 2005).
Many studies (Johnson & Johnson, 1988; 1998; Millis et. al., 1999; Gross Davis 1999) have
reported higher concept gain and knowledge retention for the students involved in
cooperative learning activities than those who performed only in competitive or
individualistic environments. This is related to the involvement of higher order thinking
skills such as: summarizing the main points, revealing interconnectedness between different
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
concepts, identifying the underlying trends and linking the topics discussed with those met
in everyday life. Through group interactions, students get opportunities to share and
exchange the ideas and give feedback to each other, as well as to make use of different
perspectives and alternatives in learning (Millis, 2002). In this way, cooperative learning can
contribute to an overall increase in motivation and promotion of cognitive development
(Jungst et.al., 2000), enhancement of lifelong learning skills, and preparation of students for
their future life (Millis, 2002; Jungst et al., 2000).
This research assessed how cooperative learning has influenced student learning in the
course ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Development’ developed and introduced at a MSc
Program on Ecology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Biology and Soil Sciences at
Moldova State University over a period of two years. The course was developed within the
framework of Course Development Competition grant and the analysis was made through
the participation at the Course Portfolio Project initiative, both at the Curriculum Resource
Centre, CEU, Budapest. The main objective of this center and its programs is introducing
the scholarship of teaching approach in CEE universities as a mean to promote student
centered learning, alongside other innovative approaches to teaching and the curriculum.
One initial purpose of this project was to introduce innovation in course content and
instructional strategy. Another task was to gather evidence of student learning in a course
portfolio1, on which conclusions could be traced on the learning effectiveness.
The innovative element of the course content was the integration of biodiversity in
development and revealing of the crucial dependence of society on biodiversity from the
point of view of ecosystem services and life quality. In regard to innovation in the
teaching and learning approach, I have tried to focus mainly on cooperative learning
techniques, which involved role plays, discussions, debates and group projects. Such an
approach is new for Moldova State University, where the instructional model is oriented
toward providing instruction, with the teacher as the main expert in the field. Being
passive learners, students, are often expecting that the teacher takes responsibility for
their learning process, as he or she know which parts of knowledge are most important
and controls the learning activities. As the group was not used to alternative methods,
some students were allowed to perform the course tasks individually if they preferred.
Individual work was also preferred by students with part-time jobs and the resulting
difficulty to be involved in all team activities. Through the analysis of pre-course and
post-course written assignments that were set and student concept maps, I have made an
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
inquiry into the learning process to see if there is a difference between conceptual
understanding among students aiming for more cooperative or more individual work.
Research methodology
The selection of research methodology was based on the premise of constructivist learning
theory, which raised the need to assess students’ prior knowledge before any course could be
implemented. Based on results of these diagnostic tests it is possible to select those
instructional strategies, which facilitate learning motivation and acquire new knowledge. I
have assumed that cooperative learning could be a suitable tool not only for students to
elaborate the key concepts on biodiversity and sustainable development, but also to find the
relationships and integration between such concepts, thus generating knowledge in line with
the modern environmental issues in society. Cooperative learning literature (Oakley et. al.,
2004; Felder and Brendt, 1994; 1996; 2001) suggested designing assignments for small
teams of students who would continue to work together for a significant portion of the
course or all of it.
In order to reveal students’ conceptual change, I have analyzed pre-course and post-course
written assignments for the presence/absence of key concepts, studying their
interconnectedness and complexity in relation to the course materials, as well the frequency
of occurrence of inadequate examples or weak arguments in the student work (Rebich and
Gautier, 2005). The students were categorized as: case A – active involvement in
cooperative learning – this group comprised a total number of 15 students (6 during 2005
and 9 during 2006), and case B composed of students who were only occasionally
participating in cooperative learning and have worked mainly individually (5 and 7
respectively).
In order to visualize the relationships between the generated concepts, the way of
organization of student ideas around the main issues taught during the course, and in order
to assess the level of formation of the new ideas and their linkage to the prior knowledge,
concept maps were built. Key concepts were linked to each other with labeled arrows in a
downward-branching hierarchical structure and the relations were articulated with linking
phrases (for example, ‘impact’, ‘leads to sustainable development’, ‘improves life quality’
1
The course portfolio can be consulted at the following address: http://cdc.d-asta.com
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
‘increases’ etc.). In some cases, multiple directional links were constructed between
concepts as switching back and forth between different levels of concepts occurred.
Main findings and discussion
The analysis of concept maps on student prior knowledge allowed me to identify the main
gaps in student knowledge in the beginning of the course as well as to redesign the
instructional approach for achieving a higher conceptual gain. This analysis demonstrated
that in the beginning of the course, student had a very basic and incomplete conceptual
understanding on biodiversity in the context of sustainable development. As can be seen
from Figure 1, biodiversity was defined with concepts of the genetic, species and habitat
diversity. It was also revealed that flora and fauna were the main components of species
diversity, which together formed biocenosis and the ecosystem. No appreciation was made,
however, on the relationships between habitat, biocenosis and ecosystem and their relation
to the maintaining of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Another important component crucial for the course content in the opinion of these students
was the socio-economic system. Most of the students were aware of the crucial role of
biodiversity in poverty eradication, protection of life quality and achieving of a sustainable
development. A concern was also noticed on the impact exercised by the socio-economic
systems on biodiversity at each diversity level (genetic, species and habitat diversity).
Integrating the concept of biodiversity conservation in sustainable development was not
shown, thus indicating that such aspects were not reflected on before during the other
courses the students had taken. This analysis was based on studying all the students’ pre-
course assignments.
After using cooperative learning techniques I have made again a thorough analysis of the
post-course written assignments, which offered an image on how students learned in the
case they did not participate in cooperative learning activities, that is group B (see Figure2).
As compared to Figure 1, a change in knowledge gain was encountered. The concept of
habitat diversity in some assignments was replaced with that of ecosystem diversity and the
role of genetic diversity for maintaining of the populations was highlighted. I assume that
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Improves life quality
Biodiversity leads to sustainable
Socio-economic systems
development
Impact
Genetic Species Habitat
diversity diversity diversity Conservation
Flora Fauna In situ Ex situ
Biocenosis
Ecosystem
Figure 1. Student prior knowledge base
the change in understanding the concepts was related to the course readings and lectures
given on these topics. An emphasis was made in most of the assignments on the role of
biodiversity in ecosystem functioning. Also, the reciprocal links were shown (indicated by
two-way arrows) between biodiversity and socio-economic systems. The change of these
concepts was most probably influenced by the homework readings and questions assigned
for the role-play seminar on ecosystem diversity in Moldova (in the case of group B, the
students who did not participate in cooperative learning presented a reflective essay on the
issues).
Students also pointed out the double side effects of socio-economic systems – the impact
leading to a decrease in biodiversity and at the same time of the crucial contribution for the
conservation of all biodiversity levels. Student explanations showed that through risk
estimation people assess the influence on biodiversity and elaborate/apply the necessary
educational, research and legislative measures for maintaining biodiversity and achieving
the sustainable development. The conservation concepts were not reflected on in details, this
being limited only to definition of in-situ and ex-situ concept, which had been discussed
through the assigned readings in the section of policy aspects for biodiversity conservation
and its sustainable use.
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
The results of my analysis of student learning in this case suggest that even though the
students tried to make a link between biodiversity and human society, they gained an
incomplete understanding on the aspects of integration of biodiversity conservation into the
sustainable development process. Even though most of these students could get high marks
during the final exam, in this particular case it is possible to see that by studying mainly
individually they paid more attention to discrete concepts without adequate integration of
them, an issue that mirrors discussions in literature (Zhonghua, 2005). This type of learning
may be related to surface approach in understanding the tasks.
Biodiversity Socio-economic systems
functioning
Maintains
quality of life
Improves
Genetic Species Ecosystem
diversity diversity
Impact
diversity
Population Risk
Genofond Fauna Flora Education Monitoring
estimatiion
Increases
Biocenosis Elaboration and
implementation of
laws
Conservation
Figure 2. Change in student conceptual understanding: case B (not involved in cooperative learning)
In contrast to individual study, cooperative learning offers a possibility to students to see
their own way of reasoning as well as to see their mistakes/strong points remarked by other
students (d’Avanzo, 2003). Results from group A (Figure 3) demonstrate student
conceptual change in the case of participation in the cooperative learning techniques: role-
plays, debates, discussions and a group project. The concept map revealed a more thorough
and complete understanding of the concepts as well their meaningful connection. Students
from this group showed an increased awareness and interest on the role and relevance of
biodiversity for development, including economic prosperity, life security, health protection and
other aspects of quality of life. They accurately explained the links between biodiversity and
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
human society, and also made a common thread between these two concepts and that of life
support systems, which were in turn referred to the global ecosystems as the basis of sustainable
development. These aspects had been addressed during the discussion seminars and group project.
Ecosystem services were also mentioned as important elements contributing to sustainable
development and human welfare. It was pointed out, that there is a crucial need for the assessment
and monitoring of ecosystem services in order to ensure a future human survival. The issue Had
been reflected during a simulated conference in the form of a role-play, in which ecosystems
services and their monitoring had to be presented from different perspectives and in the form of an
expert report. Students from this group have participated with great interest in this activtity
Another important progressive change was that the concept of conservation was discussed from
the perspective of sustainable use. Within the framework of this concept,, students brought into the
discussion a wide range of issues approached during the cooperative learning activities: protection
of community knowledge and avoiding of biopiracy, equitable sharing of benefits from the use of
biodiversity resources, global and local policy approach for biodiversity conservation and
sustainable development (including Convention on Biological Diversity), bioprospecting.
On the basis of this analysis, and considering the earlier argument that there was no big difference
in student prior knowledge at the beginning of the course, it can be concluded that in case of group
A, a more substantial change in student conceptual understanding, as modification of the core
knowledge and believes occurred. This is illustrated by Figure 3.
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Biodiversity Maintains Human Society
Sustainable development
Life support
Depends upon
systems
Assessment and
monitoring
Ecosystem
services
Conservation through sustainable use
Assessing economic value of
biodiversity
Protection of Equitable Ecotourism
community Education, Global and
sharing of and Bioprospecting
knowledge awareness local policy
benefits ecoagriculture
CBD,
National
laws
Figure 3. Change in student conceptual understanding: group A (participants of cooperative learning).
A more quantitative analysis of the conceptual understanding was also carried out (see Table
1) and it demonstrated that students actively involved in cooperative learning presented a
higher number of concepts core to the course as reflected by the course syllabus. Such
concepts referred to the role of biodiversity in development, overexploitation and
sustainable use, ecosystem services, role of biodiversity in health protection. They also
included new concepts not reflected by the course syllabi, which demonstrates that these
students, most probably driven by the requirements which arose during the classroom
activities as well as by the interest towards the topic, used a wider range of resources for
preparing their assignments. In contrast, students who were less involved in cooperative
learning have made a considerable emphasis on the impact of human activities on
biodiversity (such as biodiversity loss and habitat destruction), such views being mainly
based on prior knowledge gained from other courses and on sources which had an old
conservation approach.
Table 1. The frequencies of concepts which appeared in student written assignments
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Concepts presented in student assignments which wereFrequency of occurrence
covered by the course syllabus
Case A
Role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning 2
Role of biodiversity in development 6
Ecosystem services 4
Conservation of genetic resources 3
Role of biodiversity in health protection 4
Conservation via biodiversity commercialization and promoting of 2
ecotourism
Bioprospecting 2
Convention on Biological Diversity 3
International conservation Policy 2
Overexploitation 6
In-situ conservation 1
Ex-situ conservation 1
Risks of GMO to biodiversity 1
Sustainable use 6
Sustainable development 2
Documenting and conservation of community knowledge 1
Case B
Conservation via commercialization and ecotourism 3
Role of biodiversity in development 2
Role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning 1
Human impact on biodiversity 6
Overexploitation 2
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Bioprospecting 2
Sustainable use 2
International conservation policy 1
New Concepts presented in student assignments not discussedFrequency of occurrence
during the course sessions
Case A
Protected areas 1
Socio-economic systems 1
Natural capital 1
Biodiversity loss 3
Conservation via education 1
Exotic species 1
Demographic explosion 1
Conservation of aquatic ecosystems 1
Case B
Impact of natural factors on biodiversity depletion 3
Protected areas 1
Pollution impact on biodiversity 3
Socio-economic systems 1
Natural capital 1
Besides the number of concepts used, an analysis of the quality of the presented concepts
and depth of understanding was made. In the assignments of students with poor participation
(group B), a higher number of conceptually weak or not well supported arguments, as well
as inadequate examples were reveled in comparison to those of students involved in
cooperative learning teams (Figure 4).
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
Student conceptual understanding
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Frequency of occurrency
12
10
8 Case A
6 Case B Figure 4. Frequency of
4 occurrence of weak
2 arguments and inadequate
0
examples for case A and B
Weak arguments Inadequate
examples
Conclusions and recommendations
The concept of biodiversity takes an increased importance and meaning today for improving
the quality of life and maintaining the ecological sustainability. The interdisciplinary and
complex nature of biodiversity in the context of sustainable development requires skills that
go beyond the information transmission of the traditional lecture-based models. Cooperative
learning techniques proved to be effective tools in student learning in the course studied
here. Among students who actively participated in cooperative learning activities and
assignments, significant progress was observed in conceptual change (from discrete
elements to interconnectedness and integration of concepts) and knowledge enrichment
(increase in the number of concepts reflected by the course syllabi and new concepts as well
as decrease in the number of inadequate examples and weak arguments). This showed a
higher breadth of thinking on biodiversity issues in the context of sustainable development
among these students as well as ethically informed understanding of social, ecological and
economic values of biodiversity.
I believe that an improvement of student understanding and the greater level of interconnectedness
between main concepts occurred owing to the students’ taking advantage of cooperative learning
activities such as role play conference, group project, discussion seminars. Students were
repeatedly exposed to a rich environment of opinions among themselves and the sources they
consulted, they were given opportunities for sharing and exchanging of knowledge, thus favoring
greater possibilities for deep learning and creative thinking (Zhongua, 2005; Rebich and Gautier,
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
2005). As an overall result, students who participated actively in the learning activities,
showed a greater appreciation of the discipline and its role in their future lives.
On the issue of methodology, the concept maps provided a relevant model for evidencing
student learning. Analysis of the pre-course concept maps allowed identifying the gaps in
student knowledge and redesigning the learning approach so to achieve a higher level
reasoning. Post-course concept maps revealed the way in which students understood the
course content. Future modifications of the course will require that the concept maps be
generated by students themselves rather than by the teacher as an additional learning
strategy. Through engaging students in open, interactive discussions we should be able to
develop their understanding of the essential concepts, awake their critical thinking and
provoke scientific discovery and motivation to learn. In this way it will be possible to raise
the interest toward the discipline and also to strengthen the lifelong learning skills.
The current higher education reform in my university context and in my discipline requires
new approaches and an integration of the course content with those instructional strategies
that enhances student learning and lead to the real achievement of the course objectives. In
order to make judgements on which learning strategies are the best we need firstly to make
an assessment of student learning which is reliable and complete. Such data will provide
valuable information on what and how we teach and guide the directions for change. These
results can be seen as a starting point for further investigations on the use of cooperative
learning techniques for enhancing student learning and conceptual understanding of the key
concepts taught in biodiversity and other environmentally related disciplines.
Aknowledgements
This research was supported by a grant from Curriculum Resource Centre within the framework of course
portfolio grant program. Special thanks to Joanna Renc-Roe, Development Manager of the Curriculum
Resource Centre and to Richard Gale, Senior Scholar and Director of the Carnegie Academy for the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Higher Education Program for constructive criticism and
useful comments on the draft of the paper. Many thanks to Torbjorn Ebenhard, Malin Almstedt and Johnny de
Jong from Swedish Biodiversity Centre (Uppsala, Sweden) for useful advise on the improvements of the
course syllabus.
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Nadejda Andreev, ‘The Influence of Cooperative Learning on Student Conceptual Understanding’ Curriculum Resource Center, Working
Papers on Teaching and Learning, 2006
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