Restructuring the Classroom: Conditions for Productive Small Groups

Cohen, Ellis N.

doi:10.2307/1170744

Cited by 390 publications

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“…Constructivist learning theories assume that active and independent knowledge construction promotes students' learning (e.g., Duffy and Cunningham 1996). In line with this assumption some authors suggest that groups of students should be left alone working for considerable amounts of time as frequent intervention might disturb the learning process (e.g., Cohen 1994). Other studies, however, found that students benefit in classrooms with a lot of individual attention (Blatchford et al 2007;Brühwiler and Blatchford 2007).…”

Section: Scaffolding Task Effort and Appreciation Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of scaffolding in the classroom: support contingency and student independent working time in relation to student achievement, task effort and appreciation of support

et al. 2015

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Teacher scaffolding, in which teachers support students adaptively or contingently, is assumed to be effective. Yet, hardly any evidence from classroom studies exists. With the current experimental classroom study we investigated whether scaffolding affects students' achievement, task effort, and appreciation of teacher support, when students work in small groups. We investigated both the effects of support quality (i.e., contingency) and the duration of the independent working time of the groups. Thirty social studies teachers of pre-vocational education and 768 students (age 12-15) participated. All teachers taught a five-lesson project on the European Union and the teachers in the scaffolding condition additionally took part in a scaffolding intervention. Low contingent support was more effective in promoting students' achievement and task effort than high contingent support in situations where independent working time was low (i.e. help was frequent). In situations where independent working time was high (i.e., help was less frequent), high contingent support was more effective than low contingent support in fostering students' achievement (when correcting for students' task effort). In addition, higher levels of contingent support resulted in a higher appreciation of support. Scaffolding, thus, is not 123Instr Sci (2015) 43:615-641 DOI 10.1007/s11251-015-9351-z unequivocally effective; its effectiveness depends, among other things, on the independent working time of the groups and students' task effort. The present study is one of the first experimental study on scaffolding in an authentic classroom context, including factors that appear to matter in such an authentic context.

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Section: Scaffolding Task Effort and Appreciation Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of scaffolding in the classroom: support contingency and student independent working time in relation to student achievement, task effort and appreciation of support

et al. 2015

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“…A benefit of this approach is that every member brings unique expertise to the discussion. The resulting interdependence among the group members is an important feature of successful cooperative group functioning (Cohen, 1994).…”

Section: Finding the Overlap Between Scientific And Pedagogical Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking Students on a Journey to El Yunque

McGee

Zimmerman

2016

IJDL

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As the developers of Journey to El Yunque, we have taken a different approach to the process of designing a science curriculum. Rather than start with a specific set of concepts or skills to target as learning outcomes, we started by identifying a specific community of practice to which we sought to connect students. Researchers in the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico have been studying the impact of hurricanes on ecosystem dynamics and have been modeling what the long-term impact would be if changes to the global climate increase the frequency of severe hurricanes. Therefore, hurricane impact became the focal phenomenon for the unit. We modeled the process of investigating hurricane impact after the long-term ecological research practices of researchers in El Yunque. Students begin by investigating the long-term impact of hurricanes on the producers in El Yunque. Next students investigate the long-term impact of hurricanes on various consumers in the rainforest. Finally, students investigate how hurricanes impact the cycling of resources directly as well as indirectly through changes in organisms’ use of those resources in the rainforest. A central tension in the design process is how to coherently represent the spatial relationships between the components of the ecosystem and the temporal dynamics of the individual components. In this paper, we present the evolution of the program as we sought to balance that design tension and build an environment that connects students to the central phenomenon and practices of the community of researchers in El Yunque.

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“…CL is considered to be one of the most researched strategies and beneficial educational innovations of recent times (Ellis 2005;Johnson & Johnson, 2002;Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000;Slavin, 1996). There is strong evidence that CL provides beneficial outcomes in cognitive, social and emotional learning areas (Cohen, E., 1994;Denise, 1999;Dillenbourg, 2002;Ellis, 2005;Gillies, 2007;Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994;Johnson et al 2000;Kutnick, Ota & Berdondini, 2008;Slavin, 1996).…”

Section: Why Is It Important To Investigate Cooperative Learning In Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cooperative Learning is considered to be one of the most beneficial and researched educational innovations strategies of recent times (Ellis, 2005;Johnson & Johnson, 2002;Johnson et al, 2000;Slavin, 1996). The most common definition used for CL refers to it as a pedagogical strategy that involves small groups of students working together to achieve shared goals (E. Cohen, 1994;Denise, 1999;Gillies, 2007;. In the literature about cooperative and collaborative learning, some overlap is found in the definition of these two concepts.…”

Section: Cooperative Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It, therefore, involves two or more students working together on a structured task, through a reciprocal interaction, engaged in a voluntary way in sharing decisions in order to achieve a common goal (Chrislip & Larson, 1994;Cohen E., 1994;Denise, 1999;Dillenbourg, Baker, Blaye, & O'Malley, 1996;Friend & Cook, 1996;Gillies, 2007;Panitz, 1997).…”

Section: Cooperative Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beliefs of early-childhood teachers towards Cooperative learning in the Chilean context

Ruiz-Tagle¹

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Restructuring the Classroom: Conditions for Productive Small Groups

Cited by 390 publications

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The effects of scaffolding in the classroom: support contingency and student independent working time in relation to student achievement, task effort and appreciation of support

The effects of scaffolding in the classroom: support contingency and student independent working time in relation to student achievement, task effort and appreciation of support

Taking Students on a Journey to El Yunque

Beliefs of early-childhood teachers towards Cooperative learning in the Chilean context

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