International cooperative group dynamics across multiple grade eight subject settings.

Matthew James Etchells

Abstract


Since the early 1970’s (Slavin, 1995) research focused on cooperative learning has been greatly increased and education has progressed away from direct instruction as its singular modus operandi. A plethora of research has been conducted into the effects of group work on achievement and group dynamics. From a cognitive development perspective, Piaget and Vygotsky both advocate group work as elemental to the development of a child’s learning. The majority of the research conducted has focused on the group itself and each researcher has their own twist on efficacious group work such as the jigsaw method (Aronson, 1997), Joplin Plan (Kulik, & Kulik, 1992), and cooperative grouping (Slavin, 2006). However, there is a dearth of research investigating the amount of focus group work is being used in the classroom and if this has any relation to academic success. It is also within the remit of this study to present and discuss empirical data gathered from cooperative group observations.


Keywords


Cooperative learning, group work, secondary education

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References


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