Compelling research evidence shows benefits for student learning from explaining one's ideas and engaging with the ideas of others. However, whether certain patterns of group interaction may engender this productive student participation is unknown. Using data from two third grade mathematics classrooms, and over the course of six days during a…

Educators, researchers, and policy makers increasingly recognize that participation in classroom mathematics discussions, especially engaging with others' ideas, can promote students' mathematics understanding. How teachers can promote students' high-level engagement with others' ideas, and the challenges teachers face when trying to do so, have…

Group work is most effective when it is sequenced and structured, students are prepared in stages, and group skills have been taught and practiced. Four stages are necessary for preparing students for group work, including class-building; learning how to work with others (through practicing basic communication, team-building, and small-group…

Planning and debugging strategies and group processes predicting learning of computer programming were studied in 30 students aged 11 to 14. Students showed little advance planning. Factors associated with learning included high-level planning of program chunks, debugging of single statements, explaining, and verbalizing aloud while typing.…

This article describes: (1) the small group settings and peer group research; (2) verbal interaction and its benefits or detriments for learning; (3) students' cognitive abilities and demographic characteristics that predict their participation in small group interaction; (4) group composition and group interaction; and (5) the teacher's role in…

Using 77 junior high school students in two mathematics classes, this study investigated sex differences in interaction patterns and achievement in small cooperative learning groups. Results related to the male-female ratio in a group. Explanations for these results and consequences for group composition in the classroom are discussed. (BS)

The relationships among (a) student and group characteristics, group interaction, and achievement in small groups in junior high school mathematics classrooms and (b) the stability of these relationships over time were investigated. Interaction in the group was a potent predictor of achievement. (Author/LC)

The relationships among students and group characteristics, group interaction, and achievement in cooperative small groups were investigated. Three categories of interaction were related to achievement: receiving no explanation in response to a question or error was negatively related to achievement; giving explanations and receiving explanations…

Studied the effects of group ability composition (homogeneous versus heterogeneous) on group processes and outcomes for high-ability students completing science assessments. Results for 83 high ability students show the quality of group functioning serves as the strongest predictor of high-ability students' performance and explained much of the…

A number of theoretical and practical issues are explored that need to be considered in the design of assessments that use group collaboration to be sure that collaboration works toward, rather than away from, the purpose of the assessment. The traditional purpose of assessment has been to measure individual competence of students in thinking…

Research bearing on three aspects of small group learning is examined: (1) the relationship between interaction and achievement, (2) cognitive process and social-emotional mechanisms bridging interaction and achievement, and (3) characteristics of the individual, group, and reward structure that predict interaction in small groups. (Author/PN)

Investigated group interaction and mathematical errors of 11th-grade students working individually and in four-person heterogeneous ability groups. Averaging over all types of errors, high-ability students did best in individual conditioning, low-ability students did best in group conditioning, and medium-ability students did equally well in both.…

The relationship between interaction and achievement in cooperative small groups was studied in four junior high school mathematics classrooms. The interaction variable that related most strongly to achievement was asking a question and receiving no response; this type of interaction was negatively related to achievement. (Author/BW)

Collaborative peer learning environments have received increasing attention in classrooms due to the potential for improving learning and achievement. Yet previous research shows that not all students benefit from the collaborative experience. This paper explores the nature of helping behavior within peer-directed small groups that may be most…

The present study compared learning in individual and small group settings, accounting for differences between conditions as partly a function of student ability and group process. The study had two parts. Part One provided a comparison of learning in individual and group settings. Students in Part Two performed two tasks, both in individual…