When learning in a cooperative group setting, students develop a positive interdependence towards their classmates, which increases motivation. In a cooperative learning setting, behaviors such as working hard, attending class, participating regularly, acknowledging others' efforts and receiving help from colleagues are encouraged. In other words, cooperative learning encourages positive peer pressure and learning becomes a valued activity. When success is based on the group's efforts rather than individual work, students attribute success to hard work rather than luck, so they are motivated to give their best.
As a result of working hard because of high motivation, students in cooperative learning environments show higher scores during evaluations and tests. However, motivation is not the only reason students in cooperative settings score well. Having the chance to explain something new to someone else encourages long-term retention of new information. Social interaction and information-sharing promote better knowledge retention, resulting in higher grades.
Renowned psychologist Jean Piaget was one of the first to emphasize the importance of cooperative work in fostering decision-making and problem-solving skills. Piaget's cognitive development theory explains that individuals define right versus wrong better through their own individual struggle to arrive at fair solutions, rather than being told in an autocratic way. According to this concept, in a cooperative setting the student gains cognitive skills from the opportunities to define moral boundaries through group problem-solving, rather than via imposed rules.
Finally, most studies on cooperative learning have shown that students who benefit from this type of education were more likely than others to label classmate from a different race, ethnic group, or social class as "nice" or "smart." Friendships formed in cooperative learning settings are shown to be strong and allow students with mental disabilities to be better integrated and accepted by his peers. In others words, cooperative learning fosters an open mind to different cultures, a better understanding of disabilities and an acceptance of differences.