Next, the students will be separated into cooperative learning groups where they will receive an oak tag triangle to use as a piece of a visual organizer.
The supposedly cooperative learning groups she used to replace her rows of desks, for example, seemed in practice less a tool to encourage discussion than a means to dismiss the class for lunch (this group can line up first, now that group, etc.).
Students work in cooperative learning groups to solve problems, discuss concepts and questions, construct and test hypotheses, and evaluate scientific data and models.
For example, students were not randomized to some peer cooperative learning groups that increased time on task or an equal time (relative to the prior teaching strategies).
It has previously been found that students often need help in using cooperative learning groups effectively; significantly greater achievement was made by students who received training in group work compared with those who received no formal training (Maloof and White, 2005).
In RPD, TAs worked in cooperative learning groups in which they developed a community of practice that provided regular, ongoing support (van Driel et al., 2001) and a context for formal reflection (e.g., Richardson, 1996; Mezirow, 2003; Tanner, 2012) that often served as the basis for changes in the lab itself and in the design of the weekly prep meeting.
A third comparison group taught through lecture and occasional use of non-cooperative learning groups using continuing case study (n = 22) was used as a post-test only control group.
In contrast, a variety of active-learning strategies, ranging from simple pair discussions to more complex cooperative learning groups and class projects, require students to interact with peers in classrooms.
minor Research question 3: The cooperative learning strategies group (M = 137.93) significantly outperformed the control group (M = 102.50) on the posttest of level of autonomy (MD = 35.43, p = .000, d = 4.75 representing a large effect size).
