Exploring Reliability and Factorial Validity of Responsible Talk and its Impact on Cooperative Classrooms

Rosa M Pons,Vicente Reyes

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.702013

Abstract

The aim of this study was to validate an instrument which enables the evaluation of talk which maximizes student performance during different segments of interaction-interactivity throughout a complete learning sequence. Based on works developed by the Learning and Research Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh, a scale was developed that gathered the most relevant behaviors of each proposed dimension by researchers from this university center. The scale was used to develop a core subject for a final year Bachelor of Arts degree in Primary Education at a university in Spain and was applied to the 65 students (M = 19, F = 46) taking the subject. The data analysis used an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) that yielded a reliability of α = 0.922. EFA revealed a final interpretable three-factor structure, and the factorial solution comprised 87.86% of total variance. Results show that the talk that students use has three purposes: to constitute an effective group for learning, to build knowledge and to verify its acquisition. The results are discussed in terms of input from the Center for Research in Education and Educational Technologies at the Open University and the Learning Research and Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh.

Highlights

For over 4 decades there has been “clear and convincing evidence that working in small groups can facilitate student performance, as well as more favorable attitudes towards peers and the subject” (Good et al, 1992, p. 167), which has been confirmed through numerous meta-analyzes carried out in that time (Gürdogan-Bayir and Bozkurt, 2018; Kyndt et al, 2013; Swanson et al, 2019)
There are different approaches to dialogic teaching (Rapanta et al, 2021), all authors agree that dialogic learning must be first and foremost, evaluable (Alexander, 2008)
Various scholars of the Learning Research and Development Center have been making a giant effort to provide instruments (Wolf et al, 2006; Junker et al, 2006) enabling unify the disparity of results frequently reported (Asterhan, et al, 2020). In addition to these aforesaid works, some of Merces’s collaborators and, notably, Lauren Resnick’s collaborators, are developing talk assessment tools that are beginning to be used in recent research on dialogic learning, such as that by a group of researchers from the Universities of Barcelona (Spain) and Lisbon (Portugal) under the auspices of the European Union Research and Innovation Action Program (Project number 77045)

Summary

Introduction

For over 4 decades there has been “clear and convincing evidence that working in small groups (cooperative groups) can facilitate student performance, as well as more favorable attitudes towards peers and the subject” (Good et al, 1992, p. 167), which has been confirmed through numerous meta-analyzes carried out in that time (Gürdogan-Bayir and Bozkurt, 2018; Kyndt et al, 2013; Swanson et al, 2019). It is no surprise that numerous research highlights that the implementation of cooperative learning methods in the classroom faces different problems that condition its efficiency and effectiveness. More and more research points out that there are lack of awareness of the act of cooperating both by students and teachers, an unequal exchange of work among group members, inadequate organization of cooperative groups, insufficient support and monitoring by teachers before and during implementation of the action plan, etc. (Abdulahi et al, 2017) These problems could be found in two axes of interpretation: problems linked to teaching competence when implementing cooperative organization of the classroom and problems related to the interaction process itself among students at various moments of the learning sequence.

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion