Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

The Effects of Cooperative Learning Strategy Manipulations on the Enactment and Recall of a Medical Procedure Were Explored. One Hundred and Twenty-Three College Students Completed the Experiment. during Training, Participants Were Randomly Assigned to a Dyad in One of Four Conditions: (A) No-Strategy, (B) Baseline Strategy, (C) Prompting Strategy, and (D) Planning Strategy. during Testing, Participants Both Performed and Produced Written Recalls of the Procedure Instructions. Test Order Was Counterbalanced within Dyad. Training and Test Performances Were Videotaped. the Planning Group Produced the Best Recalls and Recalled More Conditions of the Procedure. the Prompting Group Performed Best. Recall of the Procedure in All Groups Was Enhanced by Prior Performance. However, Performance Was Enhanced by Prior Recall in Only Two Groups. the Groups Differed Also in the Nature of the Transition from Training to Testing. Theoretical and Applied Implications of These Findings Are Discussed. © 1988, SAGE Publications. All Rights Reserved

Effects of Cooperative Script Manipulations on Initial Learning and Transfer

When Two People Study Cooperatively, their Expectations, Roles, and Prior Exposure to the Information to Be Discussed Can Potentially Affect Retention. in Addition, a Cooperative Experience Has the Potential to Facilitate Subsequent Individual Study. Four Cooperative Study Scripts Were Employed to Test their Effects on Initial Recall and on Transfer to an Individual Task. as Partners, Students Read and Studied Two Passages. in Group 1, Partners Each Read One Passage Only and Then Taught the Material to Each Other. They Did Not Expect to Be Able to Read their Partner\u27s Passage, Although They Were Later Given Time to Do So. Group 2 Was Identical to Group 1, Except that Partners in Group 2 Expected the Extra Reading Time. in Group 3, Partners Cooperated in Reading Both Passages by Alternating Summarizer and Listener Roles Four Times within Each Passage. in Group 4, Partners Played Summarizer and Listener Roles Only Once, at the End of Each Passage. All Participants Later Studied a Third Passage Individually (The Transfer Task). Recall Tests Revealed that Those using a Teaching Script (Groups 1 and 2) Outperformed Those using a Cooperative Learning Script (Groups 3 and 4) on the Initial Task But Not on the Transfer Task. Furthermore, Playing a Teacher Role Significantly Improved Recall. Frequency of Summarization and Expectancy Manipulations Were Not Found to Be Significant Factors. © 1988, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved

The Role of Individual Differences in the Cooperative Learning of Technical Material

Individual Differences in the Recall of Procedural and Structural/functional Information Was Investigated in Situations in Which Students Studied in Dyads or Alone. Three Hundred Undergraduates Completed a Series of Nine Individual Difference Measures and Learned a Four-Step Study Strategy. They Then Studied Passages that Included Both Structural/functional and Procedural Material Either in a Dyad or Alone. They Completed a Free-Recall Test of the Material 2 Days Later. Induction Ability Was Found to Be Significantly Predictive of the Dyadic Recall of Structural/functional Material. Social Orientation Was Negatively Related to the Recall of Procedural Material for Those Who Studied Individually. Furthermore, Those Who Studied in Dyads Recalled Significantly More Than Did Those Who Studied Alone. Theoretical Implications and Practical Applications of the Results Are Discussed

Cooperative Procedural Learning: Effects of Prompting and Pre- Versus Distributed Planning Activities

The Effects of Cooperative Learning Strategy Manipulations on the Enactment and Recall of a Medical Procedure Were Examined. Ninety-Eight Participants Completed the Two-Session Experiment. Four Experimental Conditions Were Used: (A) No-Strategy Individuals; (B) Prompting-Only Dyads, Who Did Not Plan Prior to Practice; (C) Distributed-Planning-With-Prompting Dyads, Who Intermittently Planned How to Perform Prior to Practice; and (D) Preplanning-With-Prompting Dyads, Who Planned the Entire Procedure Prior to Practice. during Testing, Participants Performed and Recalled the Procedure. Test Order Was Counterbalanced. Distributed Planners Performed Best on a Variety of Measures, Including Performance and Oral Communication of the Procedure and Attitude towards their Partners. No Between-Groups Differences Were Found for Written Recall. as Expected, Written Recall of the Procedure Was Enhanced by Prior Performance and Performance Was Enhanced by Prior Recall. Theoretical and Applied Implications of the Results Are Delineated and Discussed in Terms of Prevalent Theories of Skill Acquisition

Manipulating Cooperative Scripts for Teaching and Learning

To Facilitate their Initial Acquisition of Knowledge from Text Material, We Paired Students with Same-Sex Partners with Whom They Read and Studied Two Passages Describing Technical Equipment. We Tested Three Different Scripts for Cooperative Interactions. in One Group (N = 26), Partners Each Read Only One Passage, Then Taught Each Other the Information They Had Read. in the Second Group (N = 20), Both Partners Read Both Passages, Stopping Periodically to Summarize the Material to Each Other. in the Third Group (N = 25), Each Partner Read Alternate Pages of Both Passages, Stopping to Teach Each Other the Material They Had Read. Free- and Cued-Recall Tests Revealed that Participants using the Cooperative Teaching Script Significantly Outperformed Participants in the Other Groups. Further Analyses Indicated that after Playing a Teaching Role, Students Recalled Significantly More Material for the Passage They Taught. after Playing a Learning Role (I.e., for the Passage They Did Not Read But Were Taught by their Partners), They Did Not Recall Significantly Less Than Those Who Read Both Passages. Although We Discuss Several Possible Explanations for These Effects, Further Experimentation is Needed to Determine their Validity. © 1987 American Psychological Association

Dyadic Learning of Technical Material: Individual Differences, Social Interaction, and Recall

To Examine the Relationships among Individual Differences, Interaction, and Recall, Students Were Paired with Same-Sex Partners to Read and Study a Passage Describing a Piece of Technical Equipment. This Material Included Both Procedural Information ( How-To Statements) and Structural/functional Information (The Organization and Function of Parts of the Equipment). Both Partners Read the Material, Stopping Periodically to Summarize the Information to One Another. the Verbal Interactions of Each of the Pairs Were Audiotaped. Several Individual Difference Measures Were Administered as Well as Free- and Cued-Recall Tests over the Studied Material. Results Revealed that Verbal Ability and Field-Independence Were Positively Related to the Recall of Structural/functional Information Which Included Pictures of the Equipment. Also, Higher Scores on a Measure of Deep Processing (The Ability to Critically Evaluate and Compare and Contrast Information) Facilitated the Recall of Procedural Information. with Regard to Verbal Interaction, It Was Found that Those Verbal Utterances that Were Directly Related to the Content of the Passage Enhanced Recall of the Information Presented Visually. Several Interpretations and Implications of These Results Are Discussed. © 1990