Structuring cooperative group work in classrooms

Cooperative, small-group learning is widely recognised as a pedagogical practice that promotes learning and socialisation across a range of curriculum areas from primary school through to high school and college. When children work cooperatively together, they learn to give and receive help, share their ideas and listen to other students’ perspectives, seek new ways of clarifying differences, resolving problems, and constructing new understandings and knowledge. The result is that students attain higher academic outcomes and are more motivated to achieve than they would be if they worked alone. This paper provides an overview of five different studies that the author has conducted that demonstrate clearly the importance of explicitly structuring cooperative small-group work in classrooms if children are to derive the benefits widely attributed to this pedagogical practice.     

Conceptual change or Conceptual Profile change?

In this paper I draw an overview of a new model to analyse conceptual evolution in the classroom, based on the notion of Conceptual Profile. This model differs from conceptual change models in suggesting that it is possible to use different ways of thinking in different domains and that a new concept does not necessarily replace previous and alternative ideas. According to this model, learning science is to change a conceptual profile and become conscious of the different zones of the profile, which includes commonsense and scientific ideas.To exemplify how the Conceptual Profile notion can help to understand the evolution of conceptions in the classroom I shall determine the different zones that constitute the epistemological and ontological profile of the concepts of the atom and of physical states of matter.     

关于合作学习中“小组作业”促进学生英语学习的研究

通过问卷调查,笔者认为建立在合作学习基础之上的"小组作业"是对当下"单一、一刀切的"作业形式的一种有效补充,同时,实施"小组作业"的过程中,教师介入起到了关键性作用。     

Perceptions of low ability students on group project work and cooperative learning

The benefits of cooperative learning strategies, such as group project work, have been advocated in a wide range of educational contexts. There is however, scant information on the outcome of such programs on students of low academic ability. In this study, interviews were conducted with four groups of low-ability students, with the aim of investigating their perceptions on the effectiveness of group project work in promoting their social and cognitive skills. Our findings show that although the students recognized that the program improved their competence in interacting with others, there are problematic organizational and instructional issues that have to be ironed out before students can profit fully from cooperative learning programs.     

Conceptual change using multiple interpretive perspectives: Two case studies in secondary school chemistry

Conceptual change is predominantlydescribed as a rational process; however, researchersare beginning to explore alternative explanations forwhy some students learn but others given the sameopportunities do not. New perspectives include socialand motivational factors, ontological issues,modelling ability, intellectual development and thequestion of whether conceptual change is revolutionaryor evolutionary. This paper argues that conceptualchange is best understood when multiple perspectivesare used to interpret chemistry learning. Case studiesof two apparently similar students are used to showthat personal factors and differing interests andpurposes for studying science can significantlyinfluence learning outcomes. The case studies supportan argument that high scores on achievement tests areunreliable indicators of conceptual learning andrecommend that teachers and researchers pay moreattention to qualitative indicators of learning suchas students' conceptual status, modelling level andintellectual position. The findings suggest thatteachers and curriculum developers should take intoaccount the qualitative differences that studies suchas this identify.     

小组合作学习在初中英语教学的使用策略探究

小组合作学习可以有效提高课堂的教学效率,这种教学模式对学生合作意识的培养成为可能。合作的重要性得到越来越多的重视,如何从小培养孩子的合作意识成为各个阶段教育探讨的重要课题。本文就重点探讨了在初中英语教学过程中如何贯彻小组合作学习的教学模式。     

Increasing explanatory behaviour,problem-solving,and reasoning within classes using cooperative group work

The present study builds on research that indicates that teachers play a key role in promoting those interactional behaviours that challenge children’s thinking and scaffold their learning. It does this by seeking to determine whether teachers who implement cooperative learning and receive training in explicit strategic questioning strategies demonstrate more verbal behaviours that mediate children’s learning than teachers who implement cooperative learning only. The study also sought to determine whether students who receive training in explicit questioning strategies demonstrate more explanatory behaviour than their untrained peers, and, as a consequence, do these same students demonstrate more advanced reasoning and problem-solving skills on follow-up reasoning and problem-solving tasks. The study involved 31 teachers in two conditions, the cooperative + strategic questioning condition and the cooperative condition, and two groups of students from each teacher’s classroom. The results show that the teachers in the cooperative + strategic questioning condition used significantly more mediating behaviours than their peers in the cooperative condition. The study also showed that the children in these teachers’ classes engaged in more elaboration and obtained significantly higher scores on the follow-up reasoning and problem-solving tasks. The study demonstrates the importance of explicitly teaching strategic questioning strategies to children during cooperative learning.     

合作学习教学策略的实践探索

在实践中,如何处理好小组合作学习与集体教学的关系,如何处理好教师与学生、集体与个体的相互关系,还未形成一个立论点高、方法程序明晰合理的基本思路。本研究在马克思主义人学理论的基础上,将教育理论研究与实验研究相结合,在合作学习理论及教学认识论的指导下,从现代教育的高度,对小组合作学习的教学策略进行研究,构建与学生主体性发展相适应的集体教学、小组合作学习与个别辅导相结合的教学组织形式。通过研究,培养学生的合作意识与合作技能,促进学生社会适应性的发展以及健康积极个性的养成,构建科学、高效的课堂教学组织形式,促进学校教育教学质量的提高。     

Creativity in a cooperative group setting

This study was to determine whether cooperative small groups would stimulate creativity of fith and sixth grade students more than an individualized learning environment. Student aptitudes for creative and academic work were assessed on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Verbal Form A), analysis of student created electrical circuit diagrams, and a batteries and bulbs prediction test. A measure of student perceptions was also used to indicate any changes in attitudes toward the science activity and learning environment. A posttest control group design was used with 11 I fifth and sixth grade students. Half of the population worked by themselves, while the other half (experimental) worked in a student-structured environment on the same science activity which involved creating as many different types of electrical circuits from a given set of batteries and bulbs as possible. An overall conclusion is that fifth and sixth grade students working within small cooperative groups can be more creative as measured by a figural creativity test with electrical circuits than students working alone. The implication of this study is that small cooperative groups as well as individualized groups should be used in elementary science classes when creativity is one of the instructional objectives.     

Conceptual change with refutational maps

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how studying a refutational map, a type of argument map, affected conceptual change. Refutational maps visually display both correct and alternative conceptions. Participants (N?=?120) were randomly assigned to (1) a refutational map condition, (2) a refutational text condition, and (3) a non-refutational text condition. The post-test results showed that studying the refutational map led to better performance on free recall and learning transfer measures. Specifically, participants who studied the refutational map performed significantly better than others on a free recall test, and they significantly outperformed the non-refutational text group on a short-answer transfer test. The multiple-choice test, another transfer measure, failed to detect any differences among the three groups. The research also found that individual differences in need for cognition and logical thinking ability interacted with the type of study materials. Participants scoring lower on logical thinking ability gained more from studying the refutational map.     

Conceptual profile of chemistry: a framework for enriching thinking and action in chemistry education

Understanding the nature of chemical thinking and action, as well as their application and impact on our world should be central goals of chemistry education at all educational levels. However, traditional school chemistry is still mostly focused on having students learn the body of declarative knowledge built over the years in the discipline. Achieving changes in curriculum and teaching practices in this context remains a challenging task. Studies in the history and philosophy of the discipline suggest that chemistry has unique characteristics that need to be recognised and considered in chemistry education. Many of these studies point to a pluralism in the discipline, and in the understanding of and about chemistry, that should be characterised and incorporated into our educational models. In this essay, we have attempted to build such a characterisation using conceptual profiles theory to propose a framework that can be used to enrich and support the thinking and action of chemistry teachers at all educational levels.     

Conceptual change and the learning of history

This paper examines conceptual change as found in the domain of history. It is argued that while history does not have central concepts in the same manner as the physical sciences, history does have alterantive frameworks which are at different levels of explanation. Causal explanations and structural explanations are considered and student personalization of structures is emphasized. It is concluded that conceptual change in history is in part due to difficulties in determining to which theoretical context a concept belongs.     

合作学习的教学策略——发展性教学实验室研究报告之二

合作学习是发展性教学中的一个重要策略。该文就合作学习的目标、教学中合作交流的形式及类型、合作学习的实效性等问题进行了探讨     

高中化学合作学习实验报告

本实验对高中化学合作学习的课堂基本模式和组织策略进行了探索,得出了合作学习对高中学生的合作意识与合作技能、学习兴趣与态度、认知水平发展等方面产生影响的五个结论。     

The relationship between students' learning strategies and the change in their misunderstandings during a high school chemistry course

The purposes of this study are as follows: (a) to investigate the relationship between high school students' learning approaches, prior knowledge and attitudes toward chemistry, and their performance on a misunderstandings test; and (b) to describe and analyze the differences between the responses of students with different learning approaches on the same test. Forty-nine suburban high school students enrolled in two sections of New York State Regents Chemistry classes participated in the study. The students' performance on a misunderstandings pretest and the students' learning approach both accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance on their performance on the misunderstandings posttest. Additionally, the results showed that the relatively meaningful learners performed significantly better than the relatively rote learners on the misunderstandings posttest.     

运用合作式教学增强英语听力元认知策略意识

合作教学作为课堂教学改革的重要举措对提高课堂效率有积极意义。针对高职高专学生英语听力水平相对较差的现状,通过师生合作和生生合作来提高学生英语听力元认知学习策略水平能够收到较为理想的效果,从而进一步提高听的效率和学生自主听的能力。     

Children''s reactions to cooperative group work: a strategy for enhancing peer relationships among bullies, victims and bystanders

This investigation increases our understanding of the interpersonal interactions that take place during co-operative group work (CGW) among children nominated by their peers as bullies, victims and bystanders. Using the method of Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR), children were given the opportunity to explore their own and others' feelings and actions during video replays of co-operative group work at two time points over an eight-month period, and to share their emotional responses with other members of the group. The study indicated that CGW had an impact on the expression of some emotions. At Time 1, bystanders expressed more enjoyment of CGW than either bullies or victims; at Time 2, these differences had disappeared. However, the tendency of victims to deny their feelings in comparison to bullies and bystanders remained. The implications for educational practice are discussed.