Chapter 15 page 389
Problem 15.13. Evaluating Teaching. Complex Instruction.- A teacher provides an inflatable model of a stegosaurus to a group of third graders.
Their task is written on a card for the group to read. The card says:
On the dinosaur, you can see a red line. That line shows
you where the waist of the dinosaur is. Measure the
size of the dinosaur’s waist by wrapping the string
around the widest part of the waist. Then measure the
string.Should this task be changed? If so, why, and how? If not, why not?Response: This example is inspired by a Group Investigation task described by Cohen
(1994a). The actual Group Investigation task involves giving the children the dinosaur, a
string, and a rule. The task card says only: “Measure the waist of the dinosaur.” The
students have much more to discuss because they have to figure out where the waist is
as well as how to measure it. The task card above provides so much information that it
leaves little if anything for the students to discuss.How treating status differences promotes core processes. Status differences must be addressed
when working with student groups. By reducing this perceived difference, mutual respect among students
increases as does engagement among lower-status students, who feel a greater sense of self-efficacy. As
lower-status students come to believe that they have relevant abilities, they become more confident about
participating, and as higher-status students also come to believe that the lower-status students have much to
contribute, they encourage them to participate.
What Teachers Should Do As Students Collaborate
As you have seen, teachers have a lot of preparatory work to do to make groups effective. But once
all this preparation is done, what should teachers in class do as the students are working together?
Most advocates of collaborative learning recommend that teachers observe and listen to groups
carefully. In this way, the teachers can evaluate the quality of the interactions and whether training in
certain social or cognitive strategies is needed. Researchers have found that teachers often spend too little
time listening to groups. In one study, teachers moved from group to group every 5 seconds, which leaves
no real chance to observe what children are saying (Meloth & Deering, 1999). Johnson and Johnson (1991;
1995) recommend that teachers work with formal observation sheets and check off student behaviors that
they observe. This information serves as a formative assessment that can guide teachers as they guide and
enhance group activities.
There is a fine line between when teachers should observe and when they should intervene. Many
researchers agree that the teachers should minimize their active participation with groups, leaving the
groups to work on their own unless intervention is essential (e.g. Cohen, Lotan, & Leechor, 1989;
McMahon & Goatley, 1995). Others recommend that teachers interact with groups more frequently to
provide needed assistance (e.g., D. W. Johnson & Johnson, 1995; Y. Sharan & Sharan, 1992). The
evidence on this issue is conflicting. Several studies have found that when teachers intervene and speak
with groups, the quality of the group conversation decreases (Almasi, 1995; Cohen et al., 1989; Hogan,
Nastasi, & Pressley, 1999). For instance, educational psychologist Kathleen Hogan et al. (1999) found that
when eighth graders worked on chemistry topics without the teacher, 62% of student turns were at a high