Learning Concrete Procedures: Effects of Processing Strategies and Cooperative Learning

We examined the efficacy of a previously developed script for learning concrete procedures with more complex procedures than had previously been studied. The experiments examined the efficacy of peer cooperation in learning concrete procedures, the effects of learning about the necessary equipment prior to practicing the procedure, and the retention of procedural information over a 6-week delay. One hundred fourteen students participated in one of the following groups: no-script individuals, no-script dyads, simultaneous-script dyads, or successive-script dyads. The simultaneous group performed better, described the procedure more thoroughly, and recalled more information than other groups. Thirty nine of the original participants completed the second experiment, in which they again produced written recalls of the instructions. The pattern of differences observed after the initial experiment was maintained after a 6-week interval.