Read current articles in refereed journals to determine the kind of research that is currently being conducted in the field of cooperative learning. Review the links to research and resources that are provided by the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota (see Resources).
Search the Education Resource Information Center (eric.ed.gov) for "cooperative learning" and "collaborative learning" to review some of the published research on this subject.
Publications that may include relevant research on cooperative learning include Journal of Experiential Education, Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, Computers and Education, and Learning and Instruction. Use these as the starting point for your research on cooperative learning.
Take notes about any open questions that other researchers have not covered, as these may be good starting points for your own proposal. For example, some open questions in cooperative learning may include the effects of computer and Internet technology on cooperative learning practices or the collaboration achieved in groups of students communicating online through distance learning programs.
Schedule a time to meet with a faculty member who will support you throughout the research project.
Write your research proposal, focusing on the question you wish to address, the past research in the field, and the methods that you will employ in your study.
Meet with the faculty member who will guide you and present your research proposal to her. If revisions are necessary, address them as quickly as possible.
Discuss the goals of your research (i.e. publication in a journal such as Computers and Education or Learning and Instruction, presentation at a conference such as the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education) and the timeline and schedule deadlines that you plan to meet.
Obtain all the necessary permission documents that your university requires for studies that involve human subjects and file them with your department, keeping at least one set of copies in your files.
Configure the wiki that you will use for the project and test it thoroughly, making sure that no links are broken and that all functions are operating properly. The best way to test a wiki is to assume the role of your typical user and go through all the actions that he would take--creating a page, editing a page, deleting a page, logging in and out, searching for articles and clicking on links.
Recruit your participants and meet with each one individually to explain the scope and purpose of the research project, as well as what they would be required to do. You may find your participants by posting advertisements for your study around campus, or asking your department administrator to send out an email on a local mailing list advertising your research and asking for participants. If you have the budget for it and the department's permission, you may offer a small compensation for your participants' time, but the specifics of this arrangement must be discussed with your department and faculty adviser.
As the participants cooperate to contribute to the content of the wiki, monitor their progress and be available to address any technical issues and problems from their end.
A good way to structure such an experiment is to ask the participants to cooperate to contribute articles on a specific topic that they do not have particular expertise in. You can leave it open ended, or give them specific learning goals that they need to achieve. Wikis epitomize cooperative learning and your participants will need to either devise their own cooperative learning strategies or structure their experience based on the guidance that you provide.
When the experiment concludes, thank the participants for their time and distribute your survey.
Collect the responses to the survey and analyze the results.
Write up the results of your research in a format that is appropriate to the goals you stated in your initial proposal. Studies in the field of education are typically written like research papers, consisting of an abstract, a literature review describing past research done on the subject, the methods employed in the current experiment, the observations and the results, a conclusion and a suggestion for further research in this domain.