Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemClassroom management of cooperative learning : a research study of two teaching strategies( 1996)This study sought to contribute to an understanding of the social context of instruction in science classes particularly to group organisation and dialogical processes. This study investigated how two role management strategies (Strategy 1 and Strategy 2) affected communication particularly Conceptualisation in all female, all-male and mixed gender groups in three parallel Year 8 science classes from one school. It also investigated the attitudes of the female and male students towards group work, the two role management strategies and gender. There were two treatment classes and one control class. Each treatment class was observed over an eight week period under each role management treatment. For the eight week period, the control class was managed in a way considered more typical of a traditional science class (No Role Strategy). A randomly selected all-female, all-male and mixed gender group from each class was tested after each treatment phase. The test problem was a practical problem requiring each group to devise and carry out a solution for the test problem. During the testing sessions each group was audio and video taped. The level of Conceptualisation was measured by coded transcriptions of group utterances during the problem solving task. At a time after the final testing session, students in the two treatment classes were administered a Student Group Work Questionnaire to determine their attitudes towards group work, the role management strategies and gender, and, to determine their behaviour in relation to each role management strategy. A statistically significant difference was found between Strategies (No Role Strategy, Strategy 1 and Strategy 2) for the frequency of Conceptualisation utterances. Further analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between No Role Strategy and Strategy 1, and, a significant difference between No Role Strategy and Strategy 2. No statistically significant difference was found between Strategy 1 and Strategy 2. No statistically significant difference was found between Gender groups (All-female, all-male and mixed gender groups) and Phases (Phase 1 and Phase 2) for the frequency of Conceptualisation utterances. Students who received instruction with the role management strategies tended to work better as a team than students who received instruction with only No Role Strategy.
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ItemThe effects of self-pacing and achievement grouping on student learning in middle school science( 1999)By year 10 in a non-selective school, where Science is compulsory, there is a wide spectrum of individual differences in mixed-ability Science classes. Traditional teaching by whole-class instruction usually does not permit the matching of curriculum to individual students' needs. To trial an alternative approach, I designed a five-week intervention. The students in small self-paced groups, followed a sequence of tasks, some of which involved a choice of the level of difficulty. The teacher became the facilitator. It was hoped that if students were grouped by achievement level, they would be able to work at a level and pace appropriate to their learning needs. Because I was interested in the students' cognitive and affective experiences of this intervention, I chose qualitative methods of research, using two case studies, a group of high achievers and a group of average achievers. I also studied how one solo-learner adapted to his group. I found that, unlike the high achievers, the average achievers enjoyed science classes more than usual, became more involved in their learning, and achieved a higher standard than normal. Several factors to explain these differences emerge from the study, including learning strategies, incongruent goals within the groups, and learning styles. The solo-learner's positive experience of the intervention is explained in terms of learning style and goal achievement. Because of the qualitative nature of this study, its findings are contextual and only tentative propositions are made. One such proposition is that the average achievers responded well to group-work because they had the necessary self-regulatory learning strategies to succeed, while the high achievers, previously succeeding with whole-class instruction, had not developed many self-regulatory strategies. This study also raises some issues, such as an assumption that all students, irrespective of their learning style, will learn through group-work.
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ItemTwo teaching stategies for managing learning in small groups of different gender composition in science classes( 1996)This study was conducted in three Year 8 classes in one school. It contributes to an understanding of how small groups work in classrooms and the conditions which influence their productivity. In a formal research design two teaching strategies were implemented which managed the status of individuals and the groups. Cognitive and affective learning outcomes were assessed using transcribed group interactions from recorded problem solving sessions. The collaborating teachers of two experimental classes used both management strategies, a low role structure and high role structure over an 8-week teaching period. The third class was the control in which the teachers used no role structure strategy for managing small group learning. Three groups consisting of a boys only group, a girls only group and a mixed gender group from each class were chosen to test achievement using practical investigation problems at the end of each four-week session of implementation of the two strategies. These same students maintained their groupings throughout the eight weeks period of study. Using a combination of audio and video recording, the conversation and behaviour in each group during the problem solving session was made, transcribed and coded. Other support resources used to help interpret the results were: The Learning Preference Scale - Students (LPSS) administered to the students; scripted vignettes taken from student interaction's coded results; informal interview with the teachers, student questionnaire and the author's regular observations of the three classes during the study. From the coded scores on conceptualisation in the group discussion the following propositions were investigated. a) Teaching strategies that manage social and intellectual status differences in classroom groups enhance the achievement of cognitive and affective goals. b) Achievement gains can be linked to patterns of communication in small groups. c) Meaning making is a process of social and cultural conceptualisation which used concepts and skills within small groups. Students prefer cooperative over competitive and/or individualistic learning. d) Gender composition of small groups may influence patterns of communication and hence achievement. More specifically, the non-directional and directional hypotheses tested were: 1. There are no differences between the three strategies (the alternative hypothesis was that active role management treatment will be superior to the no role management). 2. There are no differences between the three gender groups (the alternative hypothesis was that the all boys group will be superior to the all girls group and the mixed gender group). 3. There are no differences between the two treatment phases groups (the alternative hypothesis was that students' performance after phase 2 will be superior to students' performance after phase 1 of the study). While no statistically significant results were found the trends in the data have been generally interpreted as consistent with hypotheses based on the published literature.