Cooperative learning and group educational modules: Effects on cognitive achievement of high school biology students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cooperative learning and Group Educational Modules (GEM) on the achievement of high school biology students. GEM materials are self-instructional packets designed for use with groups of biology students. Cooperative learning is a classroom learning environment in which students work in small, mixed-ability groups toward a common goal. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used in this study. The independent variables considered included (1) participation of students in the GEM project, and (2) use of cooperative learning techniques including heterogeneous grouping and group incentives. The dependent variables for all treatment groups were scores on the instrument developed for this study. A total of 11 teachers with 36 classes and 715 students were included in this study. All teachers involved covered the same general subject matter during the study period. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used as the data analysis procedure. Significant differences were found in the achievement of students using GEM materials and those using traditional instructional approaches. The use of cooperative learning also produced significant differences when compared to traditional classroom structures.     

The effects of group composition on achievement,interaction, and learning efficiency during computer-based cooperative instruction

This study investigated the effects of cooperative group composition, student ability, and learning accountability on achievement, interaction, and instructional efficiency during computer-based instruction. A total of 125 sixth- and seventh-grade students were randomly assigned to heterogeneous or homogeneous dyads. Groups were designated as having either group or individual account-ability for mastery of lesson content. Cooperative dyads completed a tutorial on a novel symbolic mathematics topic, featuring basic symbol learning and application of the symbols. Indicators of ongoing cooperation were collected during instruction. Five days later, students completed a posttest. Low-ability students interacted more and completed the instruction more efficiently in heterogeneous than in homogeneous groups. High-ability students completed the instruction more efficiently in homogeneous than in heterogeneous groups. Cooperation was significantly related to achievement for heterogeneous ability groups, but not for either homogeneous high- or low-ability students.     

Effect of cooperative learning strategies on student verbal interactions and achievement during conceptual change instruction in 10th grade general science

This study evaluated the effects of cooperative learning on students' verbal interaction patterns and achievement in a conceptual change instructional model in secondary science. Current conceptual change instructional models recognize the importance of student–student verbal interactions, but lack specific strategies to encourage these interactions. Cooperative learning may provide the necessary strategies. Two sections of low-ability 10th-grade students were designated the experimental and control groups. Students in both sections received identical content instruction on the particle model of matter using conceptual change teaching strategies. Students worked in teacher-assigned small groups on in-class assignments. The experimental section used cooperative learning strategies involving instruction in collaborative skills and group evaluation of assignments. The control section received no collaborative skills training and students were evaluated individually on group work. Gains on achievement were assessed using pre- and posttreatment administrations of an investigator-designed short-answer essay test. The assessment strategies used in this study represent an attempt to measure conceptual change. Achievement was related to students' ability to correctly use appropriate scientific explanations of events and phenomena and to discard use of naive conceptions. Verbal interaction patterns of students working in groups were recorded on videotape and analyzed using an investigator-designed verbal interaction scheme. The targeted verbalizations used in the interaction scheme were derived from the social learning theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. It was found that students using cooperative learning strategies showed greater achievement gains as defined above and made greater use of specific verbal patterns believed to be related to increased learning. The results of the study demonstrated that cooperative learning strategies enhance conceptual change instruction. More research is needed to identify the specific variables mediating the effects of cooperative learning strategies on conceptual change learning. The methods employed in this study may provide some of the tools for this research.     

Creative Problem Solving in Teacher Education

Abstract

Colleges typically group students homogeneously in classes by means of both admission requirements and course prerequisites, but when professors form cooperative learning groups within classes they generally use heterogeneous grouping. Authors compared heterogeneously and homogeneously grouped cooperative learning groups in six paired classes, taught by the same professor using matching syllabi and assignments. Overall, homogeneously grouped students (who were grouped based on achievement on the first test given in the course) significantly outperformed heterogeneously grouped students on the final examination. High- or average-achieving students particularly benefited from homogenous grouping. Low achievers did equally well in either type of group.     

浅析小组合作学习对学生自我管理的培养

小组合作学习是当前小学课程改革中普遍被采用的一种教学方式。小组合作学习的成效依赖于学生自我管理,而小组合作学习中又潜藏着培养学生自我管理能力的契机。研究如何在小组合作学习中培养学生自我反思意识、自我管理意识、自我管理意志,进而培养学生自我管理行为,不仅能促进学生的学习成效,而且能培养学生的个性品质。     

Learning science in a cooperative setting: Academic achievement and affective outcomes

A learning unit in earth science was taught to high school students, using a jigsaw-group mastery learning approach. The sample consisted of 73 students in the experimental group and 47 students who learned the topic in an individualized mastery learning approach. The study lasted 5 weeks. Pretests and posttests on academic achievement and affective outcomes were administered. Data were treated with an analysis of covariance. The results show that students of the experimental group achieved significantly higher on academic outcomes, both normative and objective scores. On the creative essay test, the differences in number of ideas and total essay score were not significant between the groups, although the mean scores for number of words were higher for the individualized mastery learning group. On the affective domain, jigsaw-group mastery learning students scored significantly higher on self-esteem, number of friends, and involvement in the classroom. No differences were found in cohesiveness, cooperation, competition, and attitudes toward the subject learned. The results are discussed through the evaluation and comparison of the two methods of instruction used in this study. The cooperative learning movement began in junior high schools as part of the desegregation process, aiming at facilitating positive ethnic relations and increasing academic achievement and social skills among diverse students (Aronson, Stephan, Sikes, Blaney, & Snapp, 1978; Sharan & Hertz-Lazarowitz, 1980; Slavin, 1980). However, elementary teachers quickly recognized the potential of cooperative methods, and such methods were adopted freely in elementary schools before becoming widespread on the junior and senior high level. It has only been during the past few years that application of cooperative learning has been studied extensively with these older students. Cooperative learning methods generally involve heterogeneous groups working together on tasks that are deliberately structured to provide specific assignments and individual contributions from each group member. Cognitive as well as social benefits are expected, as students clarify their own understanding and share their insights and ideas with each other as they interact within the group (Deutsch, 1949). Experiments in the science laboratory have always required students to work in groups of two to four, due to the constraints of experimental processes and limited equipment and sup- plies. Thus, science courses are a natural curriculum area for examining cooperative learning practices. Now that cooperative methods are being refined to develop particular capabilities in the students, science teachers need to examine ways of structuring specific tasks to achieve the academic, affective, and socialization goals for their students. Although most of the studies of cooperative learning in the high school science classroom have centered around the cognitive outcomes of achievement testing and process skills, affective and social outcomes are also significant with students of this age. But few studies in science classes have attempted to assess such aspects of students' progress. As part of a previous revision, the science faculty at the high school where this study was conducted developed an exemplary individualized mastery learning (1ML) program for teaching science. This program seemed to alleviate the severe motivational problems and the extreme individual differences among the students in this rural/bhe-collar community. Students learned to work independently on their science studies. They had almost no lectures and few large group activities. As they worked through their assignments, however, they were free to interdct with other students. Looking in on a typical class, one would see several clusters of two or three students working together, sometimes tutoring each other, sometimes just talking through an assignment. Yet at least half of the class members would be working all alone. The importance of the overall social setting in the classroom as it relates to learning (Bruner, 1986, p. 86) and the central function of social interaction as learning occurs (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 106) seemed to have been ignored. Therefore, group mastery learning (GML), a cooperative learning tech- nique, was suggested as an antithesis to IML for teaching science over short periods. The cooperative mode of instruction considers learning as a cognitive as well as a social process, where students interact with each other as well as the teacher. To bring the social dimension back to science classrooms, the researchers chose to imple- ment GML in Grades 1 I and 12. The goal of the study was to investigate the GML's impact of the method on the individual student's academic achievement, creativity, self-esteem, and number of friends and on the overall learning environment of the classrooms. The researchers were also concerned with the students' attitudes toward earth science, the course being taught at the time of the experiment. Both cognitive and affective outcomes for students who participated in the cooperative GML approach were compared with outcomes for students who studied the same topic in an IML approach. The study addressed a number of questions related to academic and nonacademic outcomes of the two methods of study. First, it sought to determine whether academic achievement of the students taught in the cooperative GML mode would be different from the achievement of students who learned in an individualized method. Second, it sought to determine whether gains or losses would be seen in nonacademic outcomes, such as classroom learning environment, social relations, and students' self-esteem experienced by the students. The results of this study may support more use of cooperative learning in high school science.     

Teachers' reflections on cooperative learning: Issues of implementation

Cooperative learning (CL) is a well documented pedagogical practice that promotes academic achievement and socialization, yet many teachers struggle with implementing it in their classes. This study reports on the perceptions of 10, middle-year teachers who implemented cooperative learning in a unit of work across two school terms. Data from the interviews indicated that while the teachers had positive experiences with CL, a number encountered difficulties with implementing it in their classrooms. Issues identified included students socializing during group activities and not working, managing time effectively, and the preparation required. Other issues that the teachers identified as being important for successful group work included the composition of the groups, the task the group was to undertake, the social skills training needed, and the assessment of the learning that occurred in the group.     

Inquiry and groups: student interactions in cooperative inquiry-based science

Science education research has recommended cooperative inquiry based science in the primary science context for more than two decades but after more than 20 years, student achievement in science has not substantially improved. This study, through direct observation and analysis, investigated content-related student interactions in an authentic inquiry based primary science class setting. Thirty-one upper primary students were videotaped working in cooperative inquiry based science activities. Cooperative talk and negotiation of the science content was analysed to identify any high-level group interactions. The data show that while all groups have incidences of high-level content-related group interactions, the frequency and duration of these interactions were limited. No specific pattern of preceding events was identified and no episodes of high-level content-related group interactions were immediately preceded by the teacher’s interactions with the groups. This in situ study demonstrated that even without any kind of scaffolding, specific skills in knowing how to implement cooperative inquiry based science, high-level content-related group interactions did occur very briefly. Support for teachers to develop their knowledge and skills in facilitating cooperative inquiry based science learning is warranted to ensure that high-level content-related group interactions and the associated conceptual learning are not left to chance in science classrooms.     

Implementation of a cooperative methodology to develop organic chemical engineering skills

The objective of this work is to investigate how most of the competences required by engineering students may be developed through an active methodology based on cooperative learning/evaluation. Cooperative learning was employed by the University of Huelva's third-year engineering students. The teaching methodology pretends to create some of the most relevant engineering skills required nowadays such as the ability to cooperate finding appropriate information; the ability to solve problems through critical and creative thinking; and the ability to make decisions and to communicate effectively. The statistical study carried out supports the hypothesis that comprehensive and well-defined protocols in the development of the subject, the rubric and cooperative evaluation allow students to acquire a successful learning.     

Effectiveness of cooperative learning (jigsaw II) method in teaching English as a foreign language to engineering students (Case of Firat University,Turkey)

The present study compares the effects of the cooperative jigsaw II method and traditional teacher-centred teaching method on improving vocabulary knowledge and active–passive voice in English as a foreign language for engineering students and the students' attitudes towards learning English. Jigsaw is a cooperative learning model that involves small groups of 5–6 students teaching each other subject matter with success dependent upon student cooperation. Sixty-six engineering students participated in the study and a pre-test–post-test control group experimental design was employed. The students were randomly assigned into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group used cooperative Jigsaw II as an instruction method while the control group used traditional teacher-centred instruction. The groups were administered an achievement test, as a pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The results revealed statistically significant differences in favour of the experimental group on the dependent variables of improving vocabulary knowledge and learning active–passive voice in English. The attitude scale results showed that the cooperative learning experience had a significant positive effect on engineering students' attitudes towards learning English and promoted better interactions among students as well.     

Effects of cooperative learning plus inquiry method on student learning and attitudes: a comparative study for engineering economic classrooms

In the Iranian higher education system, including engineering education, effective implementation of cooperative learning is difficult because classrooms are usually crowded and the students never had a formal group working background in their previous education. In order to achieve the benefits of cooperative learning in this condition, this paper proposes a combination of cooperative learning and inquiry method. The method is implemented by grouping students in a way that the learning procedure is done in non-official class sessions by each group, while the inquiry method is done in the regular programmed class sessions. The study is performed in Islamic Azad University and the methods are implemented in two engineering economic classes with different numbers of students in each working group. The results are compared with a control class in which traditional teaching style is implemented. The results of analysis show simultaneous improvement of learning and behavioural attitudes of the students with cooperative learning plus inquiry method in the classroom with a fewer number of students in each working group.     

A jigsaw cooperative learning application in elementary science and technology lessons: physical and chemical changes

Cooperative learning is an active learning approach in which students work together in small groups to complete an assigned task. Students commonly find the subject of ‘physical and chemical changes’ difficult and abstract, and thus they generally have many misconceptions about it.

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the effects of jigsaw cooperative learning activities developed by the researchers on sixth grade students’ understanding of physical and chemical changes.

Sample

Participants in the study were 61 sixth grade students in a public elementary school in Izmir, Turkey.

Design and methods

A pre-test and post-test experimental design with a control group was used, and students were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Instruction of the subject was conducted via jigsaw cooperative learning in the experimental group and via teacher-centered instruction in the control group. During the jigsaw process, experimental group students studied the subjects of changes of state, changes in shape and molecular solubility from physical changes, and acid–base reactions, combustion reactions and changes depending on heating from chemical changes in their jigsaw groups.

Results

The concept test results showed that jigsaw cooperative learning instruction yielded significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to physical and chemical changes, compared to traditional learning. Students in the experimental group had a lower proportion of misconceptions than those in the control group, and some misconceptions in the control group were identified for the first time in this study.

Conclusions

Jigsaw cooperative learning is an effective teaching technique for challenging sixth grade students’ misconceptions in the context of physical and chemical changes, and enhancing their motivation, learning achievements, self-confidence and willingness in the science and technology lesson. This technique could be applied to other chemistry subjects and other grade levels.     

The effects of cooperative learning and learner control on students' achievement, option selections, and attitudes

We investigated the effects of studying alone or in cooperative-learning groups on the performance of high and low achievers, using either learner- or program-controlled computer-based instruction. A total of 92 sixth-grade students were classified by Stanford Achievement Test scores and randomly assigned to group or individual treatments, stratified by achievement scores. Both high and low achievers in the cooperative treatment performed better and had more positive attitudes toward grouping than did students working individually, on both program-controlled and learner-controlled computer lessons. In addition, the cooperative-learning group exhibited significantly greater improvement from immediate to delayed post-test than did the individual-learning group. For low achievers, the greatest improvement was in the program-controlled condition, and for the high achievers, in the learner-controlled condition. The learner-controlled cooperative-learning group, compared to the learner-controlled individual-learning group, chose to check its concept learning more often and spent more time interacting with the computer-based tutorial. These results suggest that cooperative learning provides beneficial effects, and imply a need for software designers to adapt computer-based instruction for cooperative learning to the different learning styles of high-and low-achieving students.     

合作学习的基本要素

合作学习是目前在世界范围内被广泛使用的课堂教学组织形式。我国自 90年代初期起 ,在课堂教学中开始引入小组活动 ,由此引发了对合作学习的探讨。本文剖析了我国在开展合作学习方面存在的误区 ,提出了合作学习的五个基本要素 :正相互依赖、个人责任、社交技能、小组自评、混合编组     

An experimental investigation into the efficiency of cooperative learning with consideration of multiple grouping criteria

The present study conducts an experimental investigation to compare the efficiency of the cooperative learning method with that of the traditional learning method. A total of 42 engineering students are randomly assigned to the two learning conditions and are formed into mixed-ability groups comprising three team members. In addition to the regular daytime classes, homework sessions are arranged such that the out-of-hours learning method and learning time can be effectively controlled. The students’ academic achievement is evaluated by means of unit tests in the daytime classes and homework tests in the out-of-hours sessions. As an alternative method for resolving the multiple grouping criteria problem, the analysis of covariance method is used to compensate for the initial difference in the prior knowledge of the students in the two learning conditions regarding the course contents. The results show that given an equivalent learning time, the students in the cooperative learning condition outperform those who study alone in both the unit tests and the homework tests. Therefore, it is concluded that cooperative learning has a higher efficiency than the individualistic learning method.     

道德与法治课堂有效合作学习的实践探索

合作学习成了道德与法治课堂教学改革的一大亮点,但合作学习有时也遇到一些问题。文章从三个方面探讨道德与法治课堂有效合作学习的策略。合理分组,明确分工,是有效的合作学习的前提条件;创设情境,问题驱动,是有效的合作学习的重要环节;加强指导,科学评价,是小组合作学习顺利进行的有效保障。     

Highlights of the montreal convention. (August 27–31, 1973)

This article reviews classroom research on cooperative‐learning techniques. These are instructional methods in which students work in 4–6 member, heterogeneous teams to master prescribed academic material or to carry out a group project or discussion. The review is focused on the four cooperative‐learning techniques in widest use in classrooms, although less widely used methods are also discussed. Only studies which took place over a period of at least two weeks are reviewed. It is concluded that: (a) Cooperative learning methods are generally more effective than control methods in increasing student achievement, but the effects arc not consistent. Some evidence suggests that highly structured cooperative methods are best for basic skills, while more open‐ended methods are best for higher‐order skills. (b) Cooperative learning methods have generally positive effects on student inter‐ethnic relations, mutual concern, self‐esteem, liking of school, and other variables.     

对大学英语合作学习教学的反思

合作学习是一种有效的教学策略,在大学英语教学中,教师把它作为开展教学的一种重要策略,通过不同形式的合作学习使学生获取知识,培养学生的合作意识和技能。但是在实施过程中却因为教师、学生、教学环境等多方面因素的制约,大大影响了合作学习的效果。教师更新教育理念,学生克服心理障碍,学校营造合作氛围才能有效地解决这些问题。     

A study of group interaction processes in learning lower secondary physics

This study explores the effectiveness of a cooperative learning (CL) approach, where students work together and elaborate concepts of physics. The group problem‐solving tasks were conceptual questions from physics, where the students had to discuss and provide explanations of some phenomena. The effectiveness of the learning‐in‐groups approach was validated and correlated with working group interactiveness. Two group variables were assigned: the group performance and the group activity. These variables and the subjects' participation variable were correlated with achievement. Discourse analysis revealed variation in the nature of the interactions and information exchange, and the two roles as learners and learning facilitators. In addition, the study provided evidence for some features of cooperative learning that could characterize it as a nonlinear dynamical process. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 556–576, 2006     

“We've Got to Keep Meeting Like This”: A Pilot Study Comparing Academic Performance in Shifting-Membership Cooperative Groups Versus Stable-Membership Cooperative Groups in an Introductory-Level Lab

This study examined possible ways to increase student engagement in small sections of a large, introductory-level, required university course. Research shows that cooperative group learning boosts achievement through fostering better interpersonal relationships between students. Cooperative group learning is an evidence-based instructional practice engaging students in active learning. The present study investigated whether cooperative groups with sustained-membership functioned more effectively for boosting performance than shifting-membership cooperative groups. Findings indicated that the amount of class time spent in groups influenced the impact of shifting or sustained-membership. A significant difference in performance was found for sustained-group students when group activities were used the majority of the time during recitation.