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Cooperative learning activities : the study of random groupings and sociometric groupings and their impact on self-esteem

University of British Columbia

This study examined two polarized views of selecting students for grouping for cooperative learning activities, to see what impact each had on student self-esteem. One major question formed the basis of the study: Is there any significant difference in student self-esteem at the Grade 7 level, over a six month period of time, if the teacher were to choose group membership for cooperative learning activities randomly, as opposed to sociometrically. The subjects were 41 Grade 7 students in two classes within the same elementary school in a small town in the Interior of British Columbia. Keeping classes intact, one class was grouped sociometrically for three Social Studies units set up in Cooperative Learning format, while the other class was grouped randomly for the same three units. Subjects were given the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory at three times during the study - before any Cooperative Learning activities, at the end of the six month activities, and after two months of no Cooperative Learning activities. This measure was used to determine whether or not each group, as a whole, had a significant change in perceived self-esteem, as a result of the cooperative learning activities, and whether or not any changes in self-esteem were more significant in the sociometric grouping or in the random grouping. Tests were hand-scored, and their means, sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, F-ratios, and probabilities were calculated by entering the data into a computer and using the ANOVAR command file of the SPSS:X program to calculate the analysis of variance for repeated measures. According to the data for this particular sample, there is no significant difference in the self-esteem of the students grouped randomly or sociometrically. There was also no significant difference in self-esteem of males versus females. However, there was a significant difference over time, with the combined groups, suggesting that the cooperative learning activities could have had some impact on student self-esteem in general.

Text

2011-01-25

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/30829

Education

University of British Columbia

Graduate