Cooperative learning: Lessons and insights from thirty years of championing a research-based innovative practice

Innovation according to Denning and Dunham (2010) is “the adoption of a new practice in a community.” I argue that our innovations need to be based on good learning theory and good instructional practice. The Johnson and Johnson conceptual model of cooperative learning is an excellent example of a widely adopted evidence-based practice. I identified cooperative learning as important for engineering education in about 1974, tried it in my classes and did some systematic research on it with David and Roger Johnson, introduced it to the engineering education community in 1981 (FIE conference and JEE paper), and it took over 25 years for it to become widespread practice. My point in presenting this story is I don't think we can afford to wait 25 or more years for the current innovations to make it into practice. This paper summarizes the history of the emergence of cooperative learning in engineering education; documents the development of the theoretical, empirical, and practical support; maps the milestones and lessons learned; and provides insights and guidance for engineering education researchers and innovators especially concerning increasing the rate of adoption of evidence-based promising practices.