Learning through cooperation and competition

Abstract

In this study, we look into the effects of cooperation and competition on learning outcomes in three universities from Finland, Spain, and Turkey. Feedback was collected via online survey from students who participated in the monitored international group competition. Our results support positive impacts of cooperation on learning outcomes but deny any negative impacts of competition. We argue further that learning outcomes are also influenced by cultural differences in perceptions towards cooperation and competition. Overall, we find the international group project competition with analysis of real-life business problems a creative approach to stimulate enhanced learning for raising “intelligent consumers of business statistics”.