University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The effects of cooperative learning groups on mathematics achievement and attitude in pre-college algebra classes

Gentry, Barbara Cox

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21826

Description

Title
The effects of cooperative learning groups on mathematics achievement and attitude in pre-college algebra classes
Author(s)
Gentry, Barbara Cox
Issue Date
1991
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Dennis, J. Richard
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Education, Community College
  • Education, Mathematics
Language
eng
Abstract
  • In this study, the effects of cooperative learning on the mathematics achievement and attitude of pre-college algebra students were investigated. Campbell and Stanley's Design 10 was used with six classes totaling 106 elementary algebra students in a community college. All students spent at least 12 hours in a microcomputer laboratory working with the mathematics software, Derive. Students were randomly selected from within each class to work alone or to work cooperatively in pairs or triads.
  • Three hypotheses were investigated to discover whether there were significant differences in: (a) mathematics achievement between students who worked alone and those who worked cooperatively, (b) mathematics achievement between students who worked in pairs and those who worked in triads, and finally, (c) to determine if students who worked in groups would show positive gains in their attitudes toward mathematics and school or toward mathematics and oneself.
  • All students were pre-tested and no significant differences were found between the groups on the mathematics pre-test. No significant differences were found between the mathematics post-test scores for those students working alone and those working cooperatively. All students demonstrated gains in mathematics scores at the end of the study. Attitude scores were high initially and there were no positive gains in attitude toward mathematics and school or toward mathematics and oneself for students who worked cooperatively. Survey results indicated that 70% of the students who worked cooperatively wanted to continue the group work in future courses.
  • These results suggest that further investigation of cooperative learning in mathematics at the college level is warranted.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/21826
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1991 Gentry, Barbara Cox

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