In this inquiry, student pairs work better than groups of three because larger groups risk disengaging members¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · design r2 · q1
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? The authors report from their teaching experience that pairs work better than groups of three in this inquiry because individuals can become disconnected in larger groups. → Rafelski 2010

Evidence¶

Rafelski 2010¶

Rafelski, M., Foley, M., Graves, G. J., Kretke, K. A., Mills, E., Nassir, M., & Patel, S. (2010). Teaching Astronomy with an Inquiry Activity on Stellar Populations. ASP Conference Series. https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.5404 doi:10.48550/arxiv.1009.5404

q1 · i? · design · r2

This is the authors' experiential observation from teaching the inquiry twice (UC Santa Cruz 2007; Po'okela Maui 2008), reported in the activity description section, not a controlled comparison. The article reports that "pairs work better than groups of three" with no measured outcome or effect size.

"We find that pairs work better than groups of three in this inquiry, since it is easy for one person to get disconnected from the investigation in groups larger than 2."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Collaboration — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• 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

• Collaborative Learning Improves Outcomes — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• In school studies, cooperative and peer-learning methods that reward groups on every member's individual learning raised achievement more than methods without such rewards — a broader claim this one bears on
• Peer Discussion Improves Conceptual Understanding — related
• Team teaching offers planning advantages but carries risks of interpersonal friction and domination by a dogmatic team member — related
• Whether individual or peer practice works better with ASR-based pronunciation training is unsettled: one study found individual work best, a meta-analysis found peer practice gave larger effects — related
• Off-task activity appeared more common in the larger six-to-seven-member teams than in the compact teams, though not in every larger team — a narrower finding that bears on this claim