Small-group discussion in physics: Peer interaction modes in pairs and fours

Abstract

The importancc of group discussion in facilitating learning in science is widely acknowledged. At the same time, it is recognized that in the social context of small groups, peers' discussion processes and their subsequent learning arc influenced by factors other than students' conceptual understanding. Focusing on the social processes of knowledge construction in group settings, this article investigates the ways Greek secondary school students interacted in pairs and fours while discussing and attempting to explain simple physical phenomena. The study showed that students progressed significantly more in their physics reasoning after participation in fours than pairs. Moreover, the analysis of discourse in the different groupings suggested that the diffcrcnces in progress were related to the more constrained modes of interaction of pairs.

A Chemistry Lesson for Citizenship: Students’ Use of Different Perspectives in Decision-Making about the Use and Sale of Laughing Gas

“…It is not surprising that videos engaged and influenced the students most. There are several studies that show the positive effect of videos on student learning, retention, and engagement [57][58][59][60][61]. In this regard, our study confirms the previous research about using videos as an effective pedagogical element of a lesson.…”

“…As to group discussion, the positive effect of it on fostering students' learning, and engagement has also been widely accepted [60][61][62]. In this chemistry lesson for citizenship, the small group discussion was chosen as an activity for the 'elaboration' phase of the 5E learning cycle, and our results confirm its effectiveness.…”

Peer discussions in lecture-based tutorials in introductory physics

“…Our results support the finding that in groups with more than two students, one of the students may to some extent be excluded from the discussion [11,17]. This does not necessarily mean that these students are not actively involved in the progress of the task at hand; rather, they may be following from the side and commenting on topics whenever they consider it necessary, such as correcting others' answers.…”

Understanding the development of interest and self-efficacy in active-learning undergraduate physics courses

“…Similarly, classroom network measures, like PageRank centrality (see Methods) have exhibited positive relationships with gains on the Force-Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) -a well-established introductory physics concept inventory (Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998;Williams, Brewe, Zwolak, & Dou, 2015). This, too, aligns with past studies showing better student under-standing when constructing knowledge in group settings (Alexopoulou & Driver, 1996;Stump, Hilpert, Husman, Chung, & Kim, 2011). These relationships between inter-actions, self-efficacy, and learning frames our examination of peer-to-peer relationships in activelearning physics courses and their association with the development of self-efficacy and interest.…”