The Effects of Grouping by Middle School Students' Collectivism in Science Cooperative Learning and Their Perceptions

Abstract

In this study, the effects of grouping by students' collectivism in cooperative learning strategy applied to middle school science classes on their academic achievement, science learning motivation, and perceptions of science learning environment were investigated. Students' perceptions of cooperative learning were also studied through survey and interview. The students were assigned to the control, heterogeneous, and homogeneous groups, and taught for 12 class hours. The analyses of results revealed that interactive effects between the instruction and the level of collectivism were found in the test scores of achievement, science learning motivation, and relevance, and that there were main effects in the test scores of confidence, perceptions of science learning environment, affiliation, and rule clarity. The achievement test scores of the students with low collectivism in the homogeneous group were significantly higher than those in the heterogeneous group. The test scores on science learning motivation and relevance of the students with high collectivism in the homogeneous and heterogeneous groups were significantly higher than those in the control group. In addition, the test scores of confidence and affiliation in the treatment groups were significantly higher than those in the control group. The test scores on perceptions of science learning environment and rule clarity in the homogeneous groups were significantly higher than those in the control group. There were also differences in the perceptions of science cooperative learning by students' collectivism.