And Then There Was COVID-19: Do the Benefits of Cooperative Learning Disappear When Switching to Online Education?

Eva Blondeel, Patricia Everaert and Evelien Opdecam
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Eva Blondeel: Department of Accountancy, Corporate Finance and Taxation, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersplein 7, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Patricia Everaert: Department of Accountancy, Corporate Finance and Taxation, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersplein 7, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Evelien Opdecam: Department of Accountancy, Corporate Finance and Taxation, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersplein 7, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic induced a rapid shift to online education. University instructors promptly reinvented their teaching methods and developed digital lessons. Cooperative learning has been demonstrated to surpass lecture-based learning (LBL) regarding students’ learning processes; therefore, the question arises as to whether the perks of cooperative learning still hold when switching to online education. This study examines whether the benefits of team-based learning (TBL) regarding good teaching (i.e., perceived teaching quality), satisfaction, and performance persist when switching from face-to-face to online education. A quasi-experiment in an undergraduate advanced accounting course compared a non-COVID-19-affected semester to a COVID-19-affected semester. In both semesters, students could choose between a TBL and a LBL path for tutorial sessions. Quantitative survey data (N = 455) indicate TBL outperforms LBL, even when switching to online tools. Good teaching was perceived as even better in the COVID-19-affected semester, and even more so by students in the team-based setting, compared to the lecture-based setting. Students’ course satisfaction and performance were unaffected by the switch to online education. This paper shows that TBL still benefits students, even in a blended environment.

Keywords: COVID-19; good teaching; satisfaction; performance; team learning; cooperative learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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