Improving the effectiveness of collaborative group work in primary schools: effects on science attainment

This longitudinal research tests the effectiveness of the SPRinG programme, which was developed through a collaboration between researchers and teachers and designed to provide teachers with strategies for enhancing pupil group work in ‘authentic’ classroom settings. An evaluation study involved comparing pupils in SPRinG classrooms and trained in group work skills with those who were not in terms of science attainment. There were 560 and 1027 pupils (8–10 years) in the experimental and control groups respectively. ‘Macro’ attainment data were collected at the start of the year. ‘Micro’ attainment data were collected in the spring and summer before and after science lessons involving either group work (intervention) or the control teachers' usual approach. SPRinG pupils made greater academic progress than control pupils. Findings are discussed relative to enhancing the quantity and quality of group work in schools and a social pedagogic approach to classroom learning.

[1]  Andrew Tolmie,et al.  The effects of adult guidance and peer discussion on the development of children's representations: evidence from the training of pedestrian skills. , 2005, British journal of psychology.

[2]  Christine M. Rubie-Davies,et al.  The Effect of a New Approach to Group Work on Pupil-Pupil and Teacher-Pupil Interactions. , 2006 .

[3]  Michael Shayer,et al.  Really Raising Standards: Cognitive intervention and academic achievement , 1994 .

[4]  W. Hartup,et al.  Friends as Coworkers: Research Review and Classroom Implications , 1997, The Elementary School Journal.

[5]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. , 1957 .

[6]  Peter Blatchford,et al.  Effects of Class Size on Attainment and Classroom Processes in English Primary Schools (Years 4 to 6) 2000-2003:Research Brief , 2004 .

[7]  N. Mercer,et al.  From social interaction to individual reasoning: an empirical investigation of a possible socio-cultural model of cognitive development , 1999 .

[8]  Peter Blatchford,et al.  Pupil Groupings in Primary School Classrooms: Sites for learning and social pedagogy? , 2002 .

[9]  Angela M. O'Donnell,et al.  Cognitive Perspectives on Peer Learning , 1999 .

[10]  N. Webb,et al.  Promoting effective helping behavior in peer-directed groups , 2003 .

[11]  Andrew Tolmie,et al.  Group work in primary school science: discussion, consensus and guidance from experts , 2003 .

[12]  Christine Howe,et al.  Chance favours only the prepared mind: Incubation and the delayed effects of peer collaboration. , 2005, British journal of psychology.

[13]  J. Brophy.  Classroom Organization and Management , 1983, The Elementary School Journal.

[14]  Group collaboration effects and the explicitness of children's knowledge , 1998 .

[15]  Peter Blatchford,et al.  Changes in grouping practices over primary and secondary school , 2003 .

[16]  B. Rogoff.  Cognition as a collaborative process. , 1998 .

[17]  H. Goldstein.  Multilevel Statistical Models , 2006 .

[18]  P. Kutnick,et al.  Developing group work in everyday classrooms: an introduction to the special issue , 2003 .

[19]  M. Galton,et al.  Group work in the primary classroom , 1992 .

[20]  Y. Lou,et al.  Within-Class Grouping: A Meta-Analysis , 1996 .

[21]  B. Simon.  Inside the primary classroom , 1980 .

[22]  David W. Johnson,et al.  Learning Together and Alone , 1999 .

[23]  Neville Bennett,et al.  Managing Classroom Groups , 1995 .

[24]  Annemarie S. Palincsar,et al.  Group processes in the classroom. , 1996 .

[25]  B. Schneuwly.  Cultural learning is cultural. [A commentary on Tomasello, Krugner and Ratner's "Cultural learning" Peer commentary by B. Schneuwly] , 1993 .

[26]  R. Gillies.  Structuring cooperative group work in classrooms , 2003 .

[27]  P. Kutnick,et al.  Toward a social pedagogy of classroom group work , 2003 .

[28]  W. Damon.  Peer education: The untapped potential , 1984 .

[29]  R. Slavin,et al.  Cooperative Learning and Achievement: Theory and Research , 2003 .

[30]  Karen Littleton,et al.  Rethinking Collaborative Learning , 2001 .

[31]  P Blatchford,et al.  Classroom contexts: connections between class size and within class grouping. , 2001, The British journal of educational psychology.

[32]  C. Howe,et al.  Task design as an influence on dialogue and learning: primary school group work with object flotation , 1993 .

[33]  M. Galton,et al.  Inside the Primary Classroom: 20 Years On , 1999 .

[34]  Neil Mercer,et al.  Words and Minds : How We Use Language to Think Together , 2000 .

[35]  A. Karmiloff-Smith.  Précis of Beyond modularity: A developmental perspective on cognitive science , 1994, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[36]  Rupert Wegerif,et al.  Towards an Account of Teaching General Thinking Skills that is Compatible with the Assumptions of Sociocultural Theory , 2004 .

[37]  Neil Davidson,et al.  Enhancing Thinking Through Cooperative Learning , 1992 .

[38]  James A. Kulik,et al.  Meta-analytic Findings on Grouping Programs , 1992 .

[39]  W. Doise.  The social development of the intellect , 1984 .

[40]  N. Mercer,et al.  Children's Talk and the Development of Reasoning in the Classroom , 1999 .