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Effects of collaborative group composition and inquiry instruction on reasoning gains and achievement in undergraduate biology.

ABSTRACT: This study compared the effectiveness of collaborative group composition and instructional method on reasoning gains and achievement in college biology. Based on initial student reasoning ability (i.e., low, medium, or high), students were assigned to either homogeneous or heterogeneous collaborative groups within either inquiry or didactic instruction. Achievement and reasoning gains were assessed at the end of the semester. Inquiry instruction, as a whole, led to significantly greater gains in reasoning ability and achievement. Inquiry instruction also led to greater confidence and more positive attitudes toward collaboration. Low-reasoning students made significantly greater reasoning gains within inquiry instruction when grouped with other low reasoners than when grouped with either medium or high reasoners. Results are consistent with equilibration theory, supporting the idea that students benefit from the opportunity for self-regulation without the guidance or direction of a more capable peer.

SUBMITTER: Jensen JL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3046889 | biostudies-other | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Effects of collaborative group composition and inquiry instruction on reasoning gains and achievement in undergraduate biology.

Jensen Jamie Lee JL Lawson Anton A

CBE life sciences education 20110101 1

This study compared the effectiveness of collaborative group composition and instructional method on reasoning gains and achievement in college biology. Based on initial student reasoning ability (i.e., low, medium, or high), students were assigned to either homogeneous or heterogeneous collaborative groups within either inquiry or didactic instruction. Achievement and reasoning gains were assessed at the end of the semester. Inquiry instruction, as a whole, led to significantly greater gains in ...[more]

PMID: 21364101

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Project description:Scientific reasoning involves a person's ability to think and act in ways that help advance their understanding of the natural world. Young children are naturally inclined to engage in scientific reasoning and display an emerging competence in the component skills of, for example, hypothesizing, experimenting and evaluating evidence. Developmental psychology research has shown that same-age children often differ considerably in their proficiency to perform these skills. Part of this variation comes from individual differences in cognition; another part is due to the fact that the component skills of scientific reasoning emerge at a different age and mature at a different pace. Significantly less attention has been paid to children's capacity to improve in scientific reasoning through instruction and deliberate practice. Although elementary science lessons are generally effective to raise the skill level of a group of learners, not all children benefit equally from the instructional treatment they receive. Knowing what causes this differential effectiveness is important as it can inform the design of adaptive instruction and support. The present study therefore aimed to identify and explain how fifth-graders (N = 138) improve their scientific reasoning skills over the course of a 5-week inquiry-based physics unit. In line with our expectations, significant progress was observed in children's achievements on a written scientific reasoning test, which was administered prior to and after the lessons, as well as in their responses to the questions and assignments that appeared on the worksheets they filled out during each lesson. Children's reading comprehension and mathematical skillfulness explained a portion of the variance in children's pretest-posttest gain. As these overall results did not apply equally to all component skills of scientific reasoning, we recommend science teachers to adapt their lessons based on children's past performance in reading and math and their actual performance of each scientific reasoning skill. The orchestration and relative effectiveness of both adaptive science teaching approaches is an interesting topic for future research.

Dataset Information

Effects of collaborative group composition and inquiry instruction on reasoning gains and achievement in undergraduate biology.

Publications

Effects of collaborative group composition and inquiry instruction on reasoning gains and achievement in undergraduate biology.

Similar Datasets

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