Abstract: Postmodern directions in university education promote the training of transversal competences such as: communication competences, social competences and teamwork competences. In this context, cooperative learning appears as a constructivist frame for the training and development of these competences. This new approach creates opportunities for students to learn together and to develop complex skills in order to manage the contemporary world’s provocations. As a consequence of applying the cooperative learning specific methods, teachers develop their pedagogical creativity and surpass some possible difficulties which the starting point in applying this approach may generate. The current researches’ regarding these issues emphasizes the positive effects of cooperative learning upon the following categories of variables: academic results, pupils’/students’ efficiency, learning motivation, critical thinking, abilities for interpersonal relationships and, implicitly, teamwork abilities. The purpose of this paper is to point out the teachers’ perception upon the role and efficiency of cooperative learning in the context of the educational-instructive process in the agricultural higher education. The collected data was obtained by the method of enquiry and using a questionnaire of opinion as a tool, which contained closed, pre-coded and open questions, in order to reflect the image upon the studied issues as faithfully as possible. The obtained results have underlined the teachers’ mainly positive perception towards the application of cooperative learning techniques especially at the seminar and practical paper activities. Also, teachers have pointed out the decisive role of cooperative learning in the outlining and development of transversal competences of relationship and teamwork. As for the effects upon students, teachers have noticed an increase in learning motivation, in the interest towards the learning tasks and the studied discipline on the whole. The research justifies its importance through identifying the teachers’ perception upon the diversification and modernization of didactic approaches based on cooperative learning in the academic context. The results obtained may be useful to the theorists and practitioners of university education who are interested in improving the quality of didactic action. The limited batch of subjects and the relatively small diversity of cooperative learning methods used by teachers appear as possible limits of research.

Key words: cooperative learning, teachears’ perception, transversal competences

Presentation: oral