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During the COVID-19 pandemic, all universities across Turkey transitioned to remote education as an urgent measure. Despite indications that the pandemic has subsided, online teaching practices continue to prevail in higher education. Accordingly, the purpose of this study, conducted under extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, is to examine the impact of online cooperative learning on the scientific reasoning skills and motivation of pre-service science teachers. A total of 54 students participated in the study, with 28 from the experimental group and 26 from the control group, following a non-equivalent control group design. The experimental group received instruction using the online cooperative learning, while the control group participated in large group discussions in an online environment in the context of a science teaching methods course. Data for the research were collected through pre-test and post-test administrations of the Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). According to the results, compared to whole-class discussions, online cooperative learning increased pre-service science teachers' scientific reasoning skills and motivation. In conclusion, online cooperative learning is considered an effective method for enhancing the pre-service science teachers' education, contributing to the further improvement of online teaching, which has become even more widespread due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]