Cooperative Learning: an instrument to value the group cohesion

Author(s):

Maria Teresa Segués(presenting / submitting)Gemma Riera(presenting)Jesús Soldevila

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 02 B, Co-operative and Collaborative Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

15:15-16:45

Room:

206.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Sílvia Alves

Contribution

The purpose of this communication is to present one of the instruments used in the research project “Case study on development and counsultancy process of an educative support program for supporting inclusive educational practices”[1]

It has been developed by the research group GRAD[2] at the University of Vic. The central aim of the research in our group is the study of aspects of attention to diversity and inclusion of all students in common classrooms and schools. Our research group's main objective is to influence progress towards inclusive schools.

The central aim of this project was to verify how Cooperative Program Cooperating to Learn_Learning to Cooperate (CL-LC[3]), that had been validated in a previous research project[4] contributes to the improvement of group cohesion and inclusion of all students.

One of the research questions was "Can we observe improvements in the level of inclusion of students with more barriers to participation and learning in regular classrooms after having introduced innovative educational practices in relation to the program CL/LC.?"

To answer that question different levels of analysis were identified: teachers, class group and the most vulnerable students, and for each level: different dimensions of analysis, different sub-questions and different data collection instruments.

For the level group-class, which is what interests us in this work, we consider among other objectives, analyze the cohesion of the whole group class.

The instruments for data collection were a socio-metric test and a questionnaire on group cohesion. The latter instrument is the one that will take up our presentation.

Before proceeding with the presentation of the instrument it should be clarified to mean by group cohesion. This is a complex concept that refers to the existence of positive interpersonal relationships that help create a climate favorable to cooperation, mutual help and solidarity and consciousness in a collective group (Pujolàs, 2008). This concept is closely related to other concepts especially the learning climate or classroom environment.

A proposal of Marchena (2005) says that, "the classroom environment is determined by two elements: "social" elements (the interaction of teachers with their students and peer interaction) and a "cultural" element (the availability of students toward tasks)". Similar factors have been identified by other authors. Anderson (1982) for example, identifies four factors: ecology, socio-cultural, social and cultural system, each of them integrates different variables. They are dynamic and interrelated factors. From Blaya (2006) "the climate of the school is determined by the quality of relationships between students and adults, the quality of the links between adults, the feeling of belonging to the center and clarity and justice at the time of applying the rules."

With Program CL/LC we considered five different dimensions to analyze the group cohesion are those that we have taken as reference for the preparation of the questionnaire:

The consensus in decision-making.
The relationship between students and mutual understanding.
The participation of students in the inclusion of a mate with disabilities.
The importance of teamwork and effectiveness.
Raising awareness of students to work cooperatively.

Each of these dimensions has been associated with various situations that may occur in the classroom and teachers proposed that the values on a Likert scale (1 is not present / 5 maximum presence).

[1] Estudio de casos sobre el desarrollo y el proceso de asesoramiento del programa de apoyos educativos inclusivos del Proyecto PAC (Referencia: EDU-2010-19140),

[2] GRAD: Grup de Recerca en Atenció a la Diversitat (Care Diversity Research Group)

[3] Original title: Programa Cooperar para Aprender/Aprender a Cooperar

[4] PAC project: Programa didáctico inclusivo para atender en el aula alumnado con necesidades educativas diversas. Una investigación evaluativa. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Referencia: SEJ2006-01495/EDUC)

Method

The methodology used in our research is a qualitative research based on case studies (Stake 1995, 2010). In our research, each class group which has taken part in the process has been considered a case to be studied. The aim is to check to what extent the introduction of cooperative learning in the classroom has helped increase the degree of cohesion among students. It is assumed that the increase in the degree of cohesion in the classroom corresponds to increased inclusion. Six are the centers participating in the project. Four centers of Primary and two Secondary Schools. Each center holds a number of different classes, between 1 and 3 classrooms. We have 9 classrooms or cases: 2 in infants education, 4 in primary education and 3 in secondary education. All are centers in the same region (Catalonia). Besides the criterion level of education (primary and secondary) schools have to meet other criteria for selection: • Are institutions participating in the CL /LC Program. • Within the program they are in different implementation phases: introduction, generalization and consolidation. • Classrooms that are selected at each center have especially vulnerable students. The faculty's Cohesion Group developed a questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was divided into five dimensions relevant to the point of view of theory. Each dimension is measured through a number of different items that exemplifies different situations that may occur in the classrooms. Teachers should assess on a scale of 1-5 their presence (1 is not present in the classroom / 5 is very present in the classroom). The data was collected early in the second quarter of the school year 2012-2013, complemented by a socio-metric analysis (simple elective processes). For the preparation of results we have been posted responses and analyzed their content.

Expected Outcomes

We present the results according to the dimensions that the questionnaire organizes: The consensus in decision-making Spaces are promoted so that students can talk and discuss their ideas. Students listen and accept the opinions of their peers, but it's harder to evaluate positively. The relationship between students and mutual understanding Students talk among themselves spontaneously and naturally. There are centers in which students merely talk to a few others and just do it with when solving a task. Students with more difficulty speaking are expressed less naturally. The participation of students in the inclusion of a mate with disabilities Students do not tease or not face each other except for two classrooms (secondary and primary). However, there are students who the rest of the class ignores (secondary). All the teachers indicate that there are students who are concerned about facilitating the participation of the most vulnerable. The importance of teamwork and effectiveness When we asked them about whether or not students have an interest in reaching agreements, or if they are able to accept co-responsibility of learning from peers, and if successful perceived as a shared success, the answer is yes. Awareness of students to work cooperatively Half of the teachers point out the presence in the classroom of indifferent or non participatory students. Identified in classroom that there are students who refuse to work together and disrupt any proposed cooperative work. Students are becoming aware of the benefits of teamwork. They encourage students to help each other but the degree to which they succeed is variable.

References

Blaya, C. (2006). Harcèlement et maltraitance en milieu scolaire. París: Armand Colin Cohen, J. (2006). Social, emotional, ethical and academic education: Creating a climate for learning, participation in democracy and wellbeing Harvard Educational Review. 76(2), 201-237. Available in www.hepg.org/her/abstract/8 Cohen, J. & Geier, V.K. (2010). School Climate Research. Summary: January 2010. New York. Available in: www.schoolclimate.org/climate/research.php Cohen, J., McCabe, E. M., Michelli, N. M., i Pickeral, T. (2009). School climate: Research, policy, teacher education and practice. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 180-213. Available in: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content. asp?ContentId=15220 Lago, J. R.; Riera, G.; Pujolàs, P.; & Soldevila, J. (2014). Teachers conceptions about Inclusion and Educational Response to the students that found more barriers to learning. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research. Porto, Portugal. Pujolàs, P. (2008). 9 ideas clave. El aprendizaje cooperativo. Barcelona: Graó Pujolàs P.; Riera R.; Pedragosa O. & Lago J.R. (2012). The Programme Cooperating to Learn/Learning to Cooperate as a tool for inclusion of all students in regular classrooms. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research. Cádiz, Spain. Stake, R. E. (1995). Investigación con estudio de casos. [2ª edición]. Madrid: Ediciones Morata. Stake, R.E. (2010). Qualitative Research: Studying How Things Work. New York: The Guilford Press.

Author Information

Maria Teresa Segués (presenting / submitting)

Vic University, Spain

Gemma Riera (presenting)

University of Vic

Psichology

Sant Julià de Vilatorta

Jesús Soldevila