Affinity Groups: Fostering Community and Interdependence in a College Reading Class

The findings from this multiple case study research project on the use of cooperative learning (specifically affinity groups) among developmental college students demonstrate that students benefited from from building community and becoming interdependent. Four themes that emerged from this study, (a) accountability, (b) building community/interdependence, (c) perspectives on group work, and d) challenges, demonstrated that though there were difficulties in implementation, overall students and instructor-researchers found grouping students into affinity groups to be an effective tool that helped student performance and success.