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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Cooperative vs. competitive learning

Overview

  • Influence: Cooperative vs. competitive learning
  • Domain: Teaching Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Instructional strategies
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Cooperative learning (in which students work together to solve problems) has been shown to be more effective than competitive learning (in which students independently solve problems).

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 8
  • Number of studies: 1,031
  • Number of students: 17,000
  • Number of effects: 984
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.57
  • Robustness index: 4

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Book Johnson & Johnson Learning together and alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning: 1987 Cooperative vs. competition 453 NA 36 0.59
Psychological Bulletin Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon Effects of Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Goal Structures on Achievement: A Meta-Analysis 1981 Cooperative with intergroup competition 122 NA 9 0.56
Review of Educational Research Johnson, Johnson, & Murayama Interdependence and interpersonal attraction among heterogeneous and homogeneous individuals: a theoretical formulation and a meta-analysis of the research 1983 Cooperative vs. competition 98 NA 83 0.82
Dissertation Hall The effects of cooperative learning on achievement: a meta-analysis 1988 Cooperative with competition 18 NA 83 0.28
Review of Educational Research Qin, Johnson, & Johnson Cooperative Versus Competitive Efforts and Problem Solving 1995 Cooperative vs. competition 46 NA 63 0.55
Report Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne Cooperative learning methods: a meta-analysis 2000 Cooperative vs. competition 158 NA 90 0.49
Psychological Bulletin Roseth, Johnson & Johnson Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures 2008 Cooperative vs. competition 129 17,000 593 0.46
Dissertation Hilk Effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning structures on college student achievement and peer relationships: a series of meta-analyses 2013 Cooperative vs. competitive using university students 7 NA 27 0.42
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,031 17,000 984 0.52
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