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.     

Multicultural influences on group learning: a qualitative higher education study

Although the literature examining the usefulness of group projects is extensive, the link between cooperative learning, group performance and skills transfer in multicultural contexts remains unclear. Focus groups were conducted with a sample of 107 international and domestic postgraduate and undergraduate marketing students to investigate this link. Results confirm that group work facilitates the development of interpersonal skills, cross‐cultural collaboration and higher‐level learning. While there is the promise of transfer of learning to other situations, group learning effectiveness appears conditional on instructors preparing, coaching and debriefing students as to the expected benefits associated with participation in group projects throughout the semester. In addition, limited differences were observed between how international and domestic students responded to group activities, although this may (in part) be due to subtle differences in preconceived attitudes to group learning activities from the outset.     

Systems Not Projects: focusing on evaluating overall student experience,rather than isolated innovations

This article describes evaluation of the Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology problem‐based learning multimedia project at the University of Melbourne over a period of seven years. The design of the initial project will be described, together with learning benefits that short‐term evaluations revealed — including better information management skills, improved higher order cognitive skills, increased interest in the subject, better collaborative learning skills, better written and oral communication skills and better computer skills. All very impressive. However, follow‐up studies with staff and students in clinical years of the veterinary course indicated clearly that the positive benefits were not sustained in the long term, as this was a once‐off experience for students. We clearly needed a new approach. Since 1995, the institutional climate, opportunities provided by new technologies and international links have shifted the policy in the Faculty of Veterinary Science towards the development of online problem‐based subjects, hopefully enabling students to have a much greater exposure to a problem‐based learning approach.     

多媒体模式下艺术专业学生英语自主学习策略探究

由于艺术专业录取时侧重专业水平的选拔,对于英语成绩要求不高,因而艺术专业学生平时学习注重专业课,轻视文化课,他们英语基础薄弱,缺乏英语学习动机。在多媒体教学模式下,采用英语自主学习策略,可有效激发学生的英语学习兴趣,培养其自主学习能力,提高英语课堂教学效率。在教学中,教师可利用学生制作多媒体课件等方法激发艺术专业学生英语学习的主观能动性;讲授相应的英语学习策略,培养艺术专业学生的自主学习能力和习惯;根据艺术专业学生的实际,编写和使用适合其特点的英语学习教材;针对艺术专业学生的学习和性格差异,采取个性化的英语教学策略;利用多媒体技术培养和提高艺术专业学生合作、探究式学习能力。     

Cooperative learning in industrial-sized biology classes

This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and attitudes in large-enrollment (>250) introductory biology classes. We found that students taught using a cooperative learning approach showed greater improvement in their knowledge of course material compared with students taught using a traditional lecture format. In addition, students viewed cooperative learning activities highly favorably. These findings suggest that encouraging students to work in small groups and improving feedback between the instructor and the students can help to improve student outcomes even in very large classes. These results should be viewed cautiously, however, until this experiment can be replicated with additional faculty. Strategies for potentially improving the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in large courses are discussed.     

Vets and videos: student learning from context‐based assessment in a pre‐clinical science course

To increase the perceived relevance of pre‐clinical science courses to undergraduates, a context‐based assessment item was introduced to a genetics course that occurs early within a five‐year veterinary science programme. The aim was to make a direct link between genetic concepts and the future clinical profession of the students. In the assessment task, students used problem‐solving skills to deduce relationships between genetic variants and nose and coat colour in dogs and to determine breeding strategies to obtain a specified colour combination. The assignment was contextualised by students presenting their results as a role‐play video of a veterinarian/client consultation. The students responded enthusiastically, finding relevance and enjoyment in the task. Together with the higher cognitive skills required, contextualisation is likely to be responsible for the deeper style of learning that was adopted by the majority of students. Hence, making explicit links between pre‐clinical content and its use in a workplace setting can lead to improved learning outcomes     

Changes on creativity scales following continuing education courses

Some educational courses for adults are concerned with developing general cognitive skills and flexibility, rather than specific concepts and competencies. Examples of such courses are those involving the encouragement of creativity, flexible and clear thinking, and efficient reading. These cognitive development courses are difficult to evaluate; for it is not immediately clear whether adult students learn anything from the novel activities experienced in them. It is necessary to examine learning of this kind using appropriate psychological tests, so as to assess student's thinking in terms of its creativity and complexity. A study was undertaken of six adult education courses, including in particular four creativity‐training courses, with two other university groups serving as controls. With the adult education groups, several significant improvements in test results were gained following the six‐week courses, involving the student's production of ideas, preference for complex stimuli, and creative independence. Consequently, creativity‐training and similar courses for general cognitive development are recommended for inclusion in both professional and lay adult‐education courses.     

Intelligent design: student perceptions of teaching and learning in large social work classes

Research into the effects of large classes demonstrates that students are disadvantaged in terms of higher order learning because interactions between teachers and students occur at lower cognitive levels. This has significance for social work education, with its emphasis on the development of critical thinking and problem solving, both higher order cognitive skills. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative research that explored social work students’ perceptions of different teaching and learning strategies in a large mental health course designed with reference to principles of student‐centred learning and constructive alignment. Findings revealed that well‐integrated design, relevance to the real world and teacher enthusiasm were seen as most useful by students, rather than particular learning strategies per se. Higher satisfaction ratings and grades were also associated with this student‐centred course compared with an earlier traditional lecture‐style course. The paper concludes that design based on the interplay between diverse learning activities, including lecture input, strengthened the student‐centred orientation of learning and recommends further research that compares learning outcomes associated with these contrasting approaches to professional education.     

Effects of Training in the Use of Social and Cognitive Strategies: An Intervention Study in Secondary Mathematics in Co‐Operative Groups

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an intervention study into the effects of a training in the use of social and cognitive strategies on the learning outcomes of students in secondary mathematics education. Special attention is given to differential effects for high‐ and low‐achieving students. The focus on differential effects is derived from studies into learning in small co‐operative groups, and from the results of meta‐analyses into the effects of training in learning strategies. From these studies it can be concluded that in general such programs contribute to learning. However, it seems that low‐achieving students are unable to benefit from interventions of the kind investigated (i.e., co‐operative learning and training in learning strategies). The main question is whether it is possible to design an instructional program from which all students benefit, and from which the low‐achieving students profit more than their counterparts in the control‐program. In the present study three instructional programs for co‐operative learning were compared: (i) an experimental program with special instruction in the use of social strategies; (ii) an experimental program with special instruction in the use of cognitive strategies; and (iii) a control program without training in either cognitive or social strategies. The programs were identical with respect to mathematical content and general instructional settings (a combination of whole‐class instruction, working in co‐operative groups and individual work). The experiment addressed the following research question: what are the general and differential effects of a training in the use of social and cognitive strategies on the results of learning in secondary mathematics? The research was conducted in two schools for secondary education in a total of 21 classes, involving a total of 511 students. The design was a pretest‐posttest control group design, using two experimental groups and one control group. The data were analysed from a multi‐level perspective. The outcomes of the investigation clearly show the effects of the intervention. Teaching cognitive and social strategies has the expected, positive effects. In addition to this main effect, a compensatory effect for the low‐achieving students was found. The low‐achieving students in the experimental conditions outperformed their counterparts in the control group.

     

Study Skills Analysis: A Pilot Study Linking a Success and Psychology Course

This study explored a concept that learning study skills in the context of the content area under study may transfer across courses, multiplying the benefits towards academic success. Methods that have been reported to influence academic growth at the community college level include success courses and applied study skills. In this pilot project among community college students, two instructors provided an enriched study skills curriculum by linking a success course with a psychology course. The instructors used techniques and activities geared toward enhancing study skills such as developing metacognitive strategies. The Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) was used to assess students’ progress. Despite few statistically significant findings, there were several interesting interaction effects. These provide some evidence for the need to emphasize the development of study strategies in existing success courses while also formally or informally tying such courses with a content course.     

COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT ATTITUDE

A mastery learning strategy was used to teach undergraduate microbiology to part‐time HNC and BSc students. Their performance was cognitively assessed in terms of Bloom's taxonomy. Their changes of attitude were measured by comparison of questionnaires after the introduction to the strategy and after the return of the assessed post‐test. Two performance groups were discovered. Both groups showed positive attitude changes toward the tutor controlling the learning experience and toward the quality of the learning materials. The low group showed negative change toward the strategy and expressed a preference for more traditional teaching, whilst the high group did the reverse. The students’ conception of the academic level of the package and its level of assessment appeared to be canalised by their knowledge of their course status in the academic hierarchy and not by their performance. It was concluded that cognitive assessment more clearly detects students failing to achieve mastery whilst indicating cognitive areas needing remedial tuition and that mastery strategies should be carefully introduced to students to avoid de‐motivating their learning. The difficulty of constructing such strategies and the time taken is compensated for by their ability to teach broader academic groups.     

Developing Sixth Graders’ Inquiry Skills to Construct Explanations in Inquiry‐based Learning Environments

The purpose of this study is to investigate how sixth graders develop inquiry skills to construct explanations in an inquiry‐based learning environment. We designed a series of inquiry‐based learning activities and identified four inquiry skills that are relevant to students’ construction of explanation. These skills include skills to identify causal relationships, to describe the reasoning process, to use data as evidence, and to evaluate explanations. Multiple sources of data (e.g., video recordings of learning activities, interviews, students’ artifacts, and pre/post tests) were collected from two science classes with 58 sixth graders. The statistical results show that overall the students’ inquiry skills were significantly improved after they participated in the series of the learning activities. Yet the level of competency in these skills varied. While students made significant progress in identifying causal relationships, describing the reasoning process, and using data as evidence, they showed slight improvement in evaluating explanations. Additionally, the analyses suggest that phases of inquiry provide different kinds of learning opportunities and interact with students’ development of inquiry skills.     

Motivating students of mixed efficacy profiles in technology skills classes: A case study

Students usually enter technology skills courses with varying experience and self-efficacy with technology. Teaching classes with mixed-efficacy at the same pace and level of contents may not ensure that all students would be equally motivated. This qualitative study explored strategies for motivating mixed profile classes by comparing learning behaviors of high and low efficacy students in an undergraduate technology skills course. It was found that low-efficacy students could be motivated by providing them with opportunities to acclimatize to the use of technical vocabulary and a technical environment. On the other hand, high-efficacy students could be motivated with opportunities to learn new technical contents. The study identified three critical stages of motivation and the strategies that could be adopted by instructors.     

Facilitation prompts and rubrics on higher‐order thinking skill performance found in undergraduate asynchronous discussion boards

Over the past 20 years, researchers have begun to examine data from asynchronous computer‐mediated student discussions in courses. Some results have shown students to demonstrate lower or mid‐level thinking skills, while others suggest students routinely demonstrate higher‐order thinking skills. The authors investigated the relationship between scaffold types and the level of students' thinking skill performance, learning achievement and attitudes, in a two‐by‐two factorial, quasi‐experimental study. Participants included 216 undergraduate preservice K‐12 teachers who were presented with one of four versions of an asynchronous discussion board assignment. Resulting discussion interactions were evaluated for demonstration of low‐, mid‐ and higher‐order thinking skills. Findings revealed students who were given a scaffold demonstrated higher‐level thinking skills more frequently than did students who received no scaffold. No significant differences in learning achievement associated with test performance were found in test results. The treatment variables did significantly affect effect survey ratings associated with students' attitudes.     

Reciprocal peer coaching and its use as a formative assessment strategy for first‐year students

Co‐operative learning is underused as a teaching and learning strategy in higher education and yet is ideal for courses that require students to learn skills that require manual dexterity, knowledge and clinical reasoning – key elements of professional and clinical competence. Reciprocal peer coaching (RPC) is a form of co‐operative or peer‐assisted learning that encourages individual students in small groups to coach each other in turn so that the outcome of the process is a more rounded understanding and a more skilful execution of the task in hand than if the student was learning in isolation. Used as a formative assessment strategy, RPC has the capacity to increase motivation in students due to the nature of the shared interdependent goal, and to provide immediate feedback to students on completion of the assessment. The purpose of this research was to interview a group of first‐year students to elicit their perceptions of the RPC process. The data were analysed from a phenomenological perspective and revealed three themes: motivating learning, learning in groups and the context of learning. The findings were subsequently explored in relation to the concept of self‐regulation of learning and the benefits which RPC as a formative assessment strategy has in promoting students’ self‐regulation.     

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.     

Relationships between motivational strategies and cognitive learning in distance education courses

This study examines the relationships between students’ academic levels, the use of motivational regulation strategies, and cognitive learning strategies. A total of 141 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in online distance courses participated in the study. The findings show that students use different motivational regulation strategies and cognitive learning strategies depending on their academic levels. Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses using two dependent variables (i.e., surface level learning strategy and deep processing level learning strategy) indicate that a surface level learning strategy (i.e., rehearsal) and deep processing level strategies (i.e., elaboration, organization, and critical thinking) are predicted by different sets of motivational regulation strategies after controlling for academic level and age. The results provide distance educators and instructional designers with practical suggestions on how to support undergraduate and graduate students’ motivational needs and further promote their use of cognitive learning strategies in online distance education programs in higher education.     

Spontaneous Collaborative Learning: A New Dimension in Student Learning Experience?

‐ Many studies have reported positive effects of cooperative learning methods on student achievement. In all such cases, cooperative learning experiences were initiated and structured by teachers, and designed according to special task and reward structures. The present study discusses a different kind of cooperative learning, Spontaneous Collaborative Learning (SCOLL), which is not structured by the teachers, but is student‐initiated. The characteristics of such a learning experience are described, and its effects on the learning strategies adopted by students, the quality of the students’ learning outcomes are examined. Quantitative and qualitative data from 39 Hong Kong tertiary (physiotherapy) students showed that SCOLL, as compared to individual preparation, promoted the engagement of a deep approach incorporating high level cognitive strategies, and in turn learning outcomes reflected in a higher structural complexity of assignments than those approaches and outcomes of students who worked individually.     

Long‐term Effects of a Staff Development Programme on Effective Instruction and Classroom Management for Teachers in Multigrade Classes

This study describes the long‐term effects of a staff development programme based on selected findings from teaching effectiveness research in schools with multigrade or mixed‐age classes. The short‐term effects of this programme were examined in two studies directed at schools with multigrade classes. The first improvement study was conducted in the school year 1986/87; the second improvement study was conducted in 1989/90. In the latter study, the effects of coaching in addition to participation in the staff development programme were also evaluated. In the school year 1992/93, a retention or follow‐up study was conducted. A quasi‐experimental, treatment‐control group design was used to test the long‐term effects of the programme ‘Dealing with multigrade classes’ and the effects of coaching. Based on pre‐ and post‐training classroom observations, the follow‐up study revealed a significant treatment effect for the time‐on‐task levels of the pupils in the multigrade classes and for the instructional and classroom management skills of the teachers. No significant differences were found between the coached and uncoached teachers and between the teachers who followed the programme either 2 or 5 years ago. No significant differences were found between the post‐test and the retention test. This suggests that the training results were quite stable. No indication of further growth in the executive control of the selected instructional and classroom management skills was found. No significant differences in achievement were found between the pupils in classes with trained teachers and the pupils in classes with untrained teachers.     

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.