Conceptual change strategies in cooperative groups reduced misconceptions in community college chemistry, but poor group leadership undermined discussion¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 1993 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Audio-tape analysis in Basili and Sanford's pretest-posttest control-group study found a significantly lower proportion of misconceptions for four of the five concepts on the posttest for the experimental group. → Blosser 1993 q2 i? Analysis of individual verbal behavior showed some group tasks encouraged interaction supportive of conceptual change, but poor group leaders prevented effective discussion by rushing through questions and imposing their views. → Blosser 1993 (2)

Evidence¶

Blosser 1993¶

Blosser, P. E. (1993). Using Cooperative Learning in Science Education. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED351207

q3 · i? · review · r3

Basili and Sanford (1991) used a pretest-posttest control-group design with four intact introductory chemistry sections at a suburban community college; experimental students were taught concept mapping and worked in groups of five explaining pre-assigned questions. The quoted result comes from analysis of audio tapes of student interaction; no effect size is printed.

"researchers found a significantly lower proportion of misconceptions for four of the five concepts on the posttest for the experimental group."

Blosser 1993 (2)¶

Blosser, P. E. (1993). Using Cooperative Learning in Science Education. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED351207

q2 · i? · review · r2

Reported second-hand: Blosser's bulletin summarizes Basili and Sanford's (1991) investigation in community-college chemistry, whose analysis of individual verbal behavior during small-group work identified this boundary condition. Blosser did not conduct the study; the primary report has not been read here.

"poor group leaders prevented effective discussion by rushing through questions and imposing their views of the purpose of the task"

Studies bearing on this claim¶

What makes a discussion fail to revise understanding? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 3 narrower claims that bear on it: 7 distinct studies (3 quant-synthesis, 2 causal, 1 review, 1 theoretical), q2–q4, 2 of 7 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Instruction that confronts science misconceptions (conceptual-conflict interventions, refutation text) produces conceptual change more often than standard exposition — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Collaborative situations often fail to be productive in practice, so orchestrating collaboration is not simple — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Science-classroom studies of cooperative learning show mixed results, with several null or negative comparisons — related
• Cooperative biology instruction raised achievement and improved perceived classroom atmosphere in Israeli junior high studies — related
• The learning cycle is reported as an effective means for learning science concepts and processes — related
• Cooperative concept mapping produces better meaningful learning than individualistic concept mapping — related
• Conflict-based instruction improves science conceptual learning, though staged contradictions helped only learners who reported being confused, and no study isolates disequilibrium as the mechanism — a broader claim this one bears on
• Interactive engagement requires both partners' utterances to be primarily constructive and a sufficient degree of turn taking — related