Date of Award
Fall 2000
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Educational Policy and Leadership
First Advisor
Bogenschild, Erika
Second Advisor
Gawkoski, Roman S.
Third Advisor
Pink, William
Abstract
Health care institutions are increasingly utilizing work teams to optimize patient care. The clinical laboratory is also making use of teams, both within laboratory departments and together with other health professionals in interdisciplinary work teams. Employers and regulatory agencies are now expecting that graduates of medical technology programs will begin their laboratory careers with the skills needed for working effectively within a team. As medical technology educators grapple with ways to prepare their students for a team-based setting, the popularity of cooperative learning rises, The decision to use cooperative learning is based upon reports in the literature which praise this learning method for its positive effects on student achievement and attitudes. However, most of these reports are from pre-college classrooms. What research there is at the college level comes primarily from the social sciences, and few studies involve the sciences or health sciences. There are limited reports involving cooperative learning in medical technology classrooms, and these are generally descriptive or anecdotal. Thus, there is a need for empirical research on the effectiveness of this learning-method for medical technology students. The present multi-institutional study is the first to compare the effectiveness of cooperative learning and individual learning on medical technology student achievement and teamwork attitudes.