...Teachers’ College of Jamaica The effects of the Cooperative Learning Strategies on students’ performance in Science By Jason Smith-Samuels SJTC20102990 A Research Proposal submitted to the department of Professional Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Education in Primary Education. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………………….4 Background and Statement of the problem……………………………………………………4-5 The purpose of the study………………………………………………………………………5-6 Research questions……………………………………………………………………………6 Operational Definitions………………………………………………………………………6-7 Delimitations……………………………………………………………………………………7 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………….7 Significance of the study……………………………………………………………………7-8 Theoretical base……………………………………………………………………………….8-9 Chapter 2: Review of literature….…………………………………………………..………10-14 Chapter 3: Methodology and procedure……………………………………..…………………15 Role of the researcher…………………………………………………………..………………16 Population and sample………………………………………………………………………16-17 Description of action plan………………………………………………………………….17-18 Data collection………………………………………………………………………………18 Data presentation analysis……………………………………………………………………19 Methods of verification………………………………………………………………………19 Ethical issues…………………………………………………………………………………19 Time line……………………………………………………………………………………..20 Summary…………………………………………………………………………….………21 List of references……………………………………………………………………………22-25 ...
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...Five Basic Elements in Cooperative Learning Abstract The term “cooperative learning” refers to an instruction method in which learners work together in small groups to achieve a common goal. There are more than five elements in cooperative learning but the most common and crucial ones are five which are individual accountability, positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing. This report explains what these five elements are and how to implement these features in a cooperative learning group. 1.0 Introduction 21st century learning is often and always related to technological approaches while actually this type of learning is to fulfill the needs of being a 21st century learner. Hence in order to meet the needs of the 21st century learner and achieve the student outcomes, schools are asked to adopt a 21st century curriculum that blends thinking and innovation skills; information, media, and ICT literacy; and life and career skills in context of core academic subjects and at the same time required to employ methods of 21st century instruction that integrate innovative and research-proven teaching strategies, modern learning technologies, and real world resources and contexts. 1.1 Background Students’ learning goals may be structured to promote cooperative, competitive, or individualistic efforts. In every classroom, instructional activities are aimed at accomplishing goals and are conducted under...
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...Cooperative Problem Solving in Physics A User’s Manual Why? What? How? STEP 1 Recognize the Problem What's going on? STEP 2 Describe the problem in terms of the field What does this have to do with ...... ? STEP 3 Plan a solution How do I get out of this? STEP 4 Execute the plan Let's get an answer STEP 5 Evaluate the solution Can this be true? Kenneth Heller Patricia Heller University of Minnesota With support from the National Science Foundation, University of Minnesota, and U.S. Department of Education © Kenneth & Patricia Heller, 2010 Acknowledgments In reaching this stage in this work, we gratefully acknowledge the support of the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Education FIPSE program, and the National Science Foundation. This work would not have existed without the close cooperation of the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Curriculum and Instruction. We have incorporated the suggestions of many faculty members from both Physics and Education at the University of Minnesota and other institutions that have communicated with us at workshops, meetings, and by e-mail. This work has depended on the efforts and feedback of many graduate student teaching assistants in the School of Physics and Astronomy over the years. Much of this development is directly based on the research of the graduate students in the University of Minnesota Physics Education Program: Jennifer...
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...Based on research, a general definition of cooperative learning refers to students working in teams on an assignment or projects under conditions in which certain criteria are satisfied, including that the team members be held individually accountable for the complete content of assignment or projects. However, different proponents have slightly different perception or view on Cooperative Learning. (Johnsons, et.al, 1991) mentioned that cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. Then, Kagan (1994) stated that cooperative learning is a teaching arrangement that refers to small, heterogeneous groups of students working together to achieve a common goal. However, (Johnson, Johnson and Holubec, 1998) stated cooperative learning is a strategy that is used to maximize students achievement in schools; though, oftentimes it goes without being used to its fullest potential or is used in an unsuccessful. Woolfolk (2001) views cooperative learning as an arrangement in which students work in mixed ability groups and are rewarded on the basis of the success of the group. Another website resource studied that the term "cooperative learning" covers the subset of active learning activities which students do as groups of three or more, rather than alone or in pairs; generally, cooperative learning techniques employ more formally structured groups of students assigned complex tasks, ...
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...what competencies the various stakeholders (students, faculty and industry mentors) think are the ideal competencies needed by employees in the hospitality field in places such as hotels, food service providers, restaurants and lodges, compared to those actually displayed by hospitality management students. This particular paper reports on a comparison drawn between what the faculty and students believe are the ideal competencies compared to those that they actually have on completion of their academic studies, prior to the students engaging in their semester of work-integrated learning (WIL). The results would be used by faculty to focus on ensuring students are aware of the employability and management competencies they need in order to conduct themselves in the business world of hospitality with confidence and competently. Key Words: Competencies, hospitality, soft skills, work-integrated learning. Introduction In a developing country such as Nigeria where the jobless rate is 10.4% of the labour force, it is expected that university graduates should be able to find employment but there are many who do not (Ntuli, 2007). The labour market oscillates between the skills shortage on one hand and the number of graduates who are without work on...
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...Abstract This descriptive research aimed to determine the effective physics teaching strategies used by the physics teachers in public high schools. This study will give a hint to the teachers about the effective teaching strategies in teaching physics. This descriptive study will be conducted in five public high schools within Iloilo City, these are Iloilo National High School, Jaro National High School, Iloilo City National High School, La Paz National High School, and Jalandoni National High School. The researchers selected the star sections of each school to do the observation. The researchers made checklist to list down the observable teaching strategies used by the teacher in teaching strategies. The result will be interpreted based on the result of the evaluation given by the teacher after discussion. The result of the assessment of the students from five different public schools will be compared to determine the effective strategies in teaching physics. The higher the mean result of the assessment of the students means the greater the effectiveness of the teaching strategies used by the teacher in teaching physics. CHAPTER 1 The Problem Chapter one includes the following parts: (1) Background and the theoretical framework of the study, (2) Statement of the problem and hypotheses, (3) Definition of Terms, (4) Significance of the study. Part one, Background and theoretical framework of the study, describes the philosophies about teaching profession supported...
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...Project group “Learning Agents in Dynamic Environments III” Homework “Reinforcement Learning” Multiagent Reinforcement Learning Michael Baumann, Timo Klerx 06-Nov-2012 Foreword 23-Nov-2012, 11:59 PM Hand in your solutions as PDF and the source code (whole eclipse project) as zip archive via eMail. 27-Nov-2012 Presentation and discussion of your results. Scenario Consider the scenario shown in Figure Figure 1: The two agents should learn to reach their respective goal area as fast as possible. Although there are explicit start areas, the learned policy should cover all possible states. Admissible actions for the agents are moving one cell in one of the four cardinal directions. If an agent tries to leave the world or crashes into a wall, it remains on its position. The same holds for collisions between agents: on each cell at most one agent is allowed and thus, both agents remain on their positions, if they would collide. This rule implies, that only one agent can pass the small opening at a time! An episode ends either if both agents are situated on their goals region or after imax iterations. Exercises 1. Discuss the following strategies for giving reward and choose one for your model / your implementation: a) Each agent gets an individual reward, i.e. agent Aj gets reward rj when it reaches goal Aj . b) Both agents get an identical reward r if both agents are on their correct goals. 1 Goal A2 Goal A1 1 2 Start A1 Start A2 Figure 1:...
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...Running head: PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING Problem-Based Learning: Its Application and Role in Education Joe Student Austin Peay State University PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING 2 Abstract What is Problem-Based Learning? Problem-Based Learning (PBL) began in the medical field; however, it has been applied to disciplines at colleges and universities, different subjects in the K-12 education system, and a variety of other professions as well. This paper will focus on the usefulness of Problem-Based Learning in the role of education, the driving motivation, and how it will impact the future of educators. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING 3 Problem-Based Learning: Its Application and Role in Education Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a student driven, teacher guided method of instruction which weaves the ideas and theories of Bloom, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Gardner, into a cooperative learning process in which students receive and process information about ideas they have found interesting. The students then apply the knowledge gathered through the research phase to real-life situations (Bell, 2010; Levin, 2001). PBL, which began in the medical field, was used primarily as a way for medical students to improve their own problem solving abilities (Levin, 2001). Levin (2001) re-emphasized from previous studies that PBL serves as a foundation for many teacher education programs because it is consistent with constructivist theories of learning. Kauchak and Eggen (2011) define constructivism...
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...teaching strategies that instructors can use to improve student learning. The links below will show you some ways to make your classes more engaging. * Active Learning - Active Learning is anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture. Research shows that active learning improves students' understanding and retention of information and can be very effective in developing higher order cognitive skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. * Collaborative/Cooperative Learning - Cooperative and collaborative learning are instructional approaches in which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common learning goal.They need to be carefully planned and executed, but they don't require permanently formed groups. * Critical Thinking - Critical thinking is a collection of mental activities that include the ability to intuit, clarify, reflect, connect, infer, and judge. It brings these activities together and enables the student to question what knowledge exists. * Discussion Strategies - Engaging students in discussion deepens their learning and motivation by propelling them to develop their own views and hear their own voices. A good environment for interaction is the first step in encouraging students to talk. * Experiential Learning - Experiential learning is an approach to education that focuses on "learning by doing," on the participant's subjective experience. The role...
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...Quality Management Journal, 6(2), 9-21 (1999). HOW TO IMPROVE TEACHING QUALITY Richard M. Felder Department of Chemical Engineering North Carolina State University Rebecca Brent College of Engineering North Carolina State University An announcement goes out to the faculty that from now on the university will operate as a total quality management campus. All academic, business, and service functions will be assessed regularly, and quality teams will plan ways to improve them. A campus quality director and a steering team are named, with the director reporting to the Provost. All university departments appoint quality coordinators, who attend a one-day workshop on quality management principles and return to their departments to facilitate faculty and/or staff meetings at which quality improvement is discussed. Many faculty members are irate. They argue that TQM was developed by and for industry to improve profits, industry and the university are totally different, and talking of students as "customers" is offensive and makes no sense. They make it clear that they will have nothing to do with this scheme and will view any attempt to compel them to participate as a violation of their academic freedom. What happens then is…practically nothing. Some changes are made in business and service departments, some curricula are revised, and a few instructors make changes in what they do in their classrooms but most go on teaching the way they have always taught. After two or three...
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...Annotated Bibliography Assignment 1 Gary L. Williams Information Assurance Research Literature RSC 830 January 20, 2015 Dr. Emily Darraj Annotated Bibliography Assignment 1 The purpose of this assignment is to examine the topic cybersecurity via an annotated bibliographic review of multiple dissertations. This assignment will work toward the identification of a future dissertation topic within this field and also towards the identification of research material in support of the final dissertation. The annotated bibliographic reviews contained within this paper will work to provide information that will support my future research and provide experience in garnering and explaining the salient tenants of research material. NOTE: This paper will not include proper APA formatting as citations have been bolded to ensure the professor can discern where citations begin and end. Curtis, S. K. (2012). Commitment to cybersecurity and information technology governance: A case study and leadership model. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from the ProQuest dissertation and thesis database. (UMI No. 3569139) The problem as described by the author in this quantitative study is senior managers are not using web analytic technology (WAT) and there is a lack of literature describing why this is the case. The purpose of this study is to “examine how management consultants perceive WAT” (p. 22). This study has seven hypotheses. Unified theory of acceptance use of technology...
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...attempt to find out the problems and solutions of one rural grade 7 teacher in a Philippine public high school in the implementation of K to 12 Mathematics curriculum. It is believed that knowledge is constructed when learners are able to draw ideas from their own experiences and connects them to new ideas while cooperative learning puts premium on active learning achieved by working with fellow learners as they all engage in a shared task. There were three main problem categories/themes including administrativerelated, teacher-related and student-related. The findings include: (a) lack of trainings, seminars, unclear standard operating procedures, (b) late arrival and lack of modules, (c) developing/weak teaching skills and strategies, (d) teacher’s difficulty in teaching the subjects or contents, (e)lack of time to tackle the content efficiently, (f) unavailability or lack of instructional materials, (g) non-mastery of the basic concepts and skills, (h) poor problem solving and critical thinking skills (i) indifferent student behaviour. The solutions are sharing of modules or guides, conducting cooperative learning class, giving extra time for research work, taking time in the preparation of the lesson, making use of the indigenous materials, reviewing basic concepts and giving examples, motivating and teaching students enthusiastically. Introduction Mathematics has always played a vital role in education. Mathematics teachers should therefore be adept at teaching...
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...CHEATING HELPS STUDENTS TO LEARN Every action has a consequence, whether it is good or bad. The choices you make can follow you the rest of your life. Cheating refers to an immoral way of achieving a goal. Cheating is an issue that affects many students at one time or another throughout their education. There are many different ways to cheat: copying homework, looking over at a peers test, plagiarizing, and so on. Cheating behaviors are becoming increasingly pervasive and frequent in academic context (McCabe & Trevino, 1997; McCabe, Trevino & Butterfield, 2001), with grave repercussions on the main mission of any educational institution: to promote the acquisition of actual knowledge and competences in students (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2001). Longitudinal research in school environments reported an increase in cheating over the last decades, and a decrease in individuals’ perceived severity of dishonest behavior (Murdock, Hale & Weber, 2001). Today’s high school and college students openly admit that academic cheating has become both pervasive and expected. As many as 80% to 90% of students cheat prior to graduating from high school, and a similar percentage cheat during their undergraduate years (Davis, Grover, Becker, & McGregor, 1992; McCabe & Trevino, 1997). Many students admit to cheating only once; however, for a substantial minority, the behavior is repetitive (Hollinger & Lanza-Kaduce, 1996; McCabe & Trevino, 1997). Moreover, cheating rates have...
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...Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. The effective administrator: 1.1 Uses research about best professional practice. Cooperative Learning "Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning." WHAT IS IT? Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. WHY USE IT? Documented results include improved academic achievement, improved behavior and attendance, increased self-confidence and motivation, and increased liking of school and classmates. Cooperative learning is also relatively easy to implement and is inexpensive. HOW DOES IT WORK? Here are some typical strategies that can be used with any subject, in almost any grade, and without a special curriculum: Group Investigations are structured to emphasize higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation. Students work to produce a group project, which they may have a hand...
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...Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom b ˚ PBI Research Institute and Abo Akademi University, Aurakatu 1b, FIN-20100 Turku, Finland c PBI Research Institute, Suvorovsky pr., 2b, lit. A, Office 310, 191036 St. Petersburg, Russia Received 11 August 2009; received in revised form 11 November 2009; accepted 17 November 2009 Abstract The paper works towards establishing value for trust in project business, particularly the financial value of trust to project business. Concepts of trust are revisited. Rational explanations of trust are shown wanting, calculations of trust and danger being misrepresentations of how the willingness to trust is formed. The paper argues for the need to establish the interpretative and socially constructed nature of trust, primarily based upon prior experiential and psycho-motive learning in relation to current situational factors. Trust and its relationship to forming expectations and generating confidence are considered. Empirical findings are mobilised to show how trust contributed to value in a financial sense. Value is not an absolute in this context for value is empirically and theoretically shown to relate directly to expectations. Value is defined as an asset and is thus part of social capital for projects and in embedded in firms. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved. Keywords: Confidence; Judgment; Learning; Project business; Trust; Value 1. Introduction This paper addresses the question of the...
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