"Tell me, and I forget, show me, and I remember,

Involve me, and I understand."‑‑ Chinese Proverb

 

Maturity Continuum

Dependent  ºº Independent  ºº Interdependent

-- Dr. Steven Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

 

"Key features of cooperative learning are very consistent with the basic tenets of adult learning theory (andragogy), namely:  adults learn best through active, experiential techniques involving discussion and problem solving which allows them to draw on their backlog of personal and professional experiences (Knowles, 1984)."--Cuseo, "Cooperative learning," 1992, p. 2.

 

New Emphasis in Higher Education

Teacher-centered                             Learning-centered

 

 

 

Transmission of                                 Efficiency & effectiveness  of learning

increasing quantity                    

 

Traditional exam and                        Continuous classroom  assessment

  verify methods                         

 

Traditional views of                           Understand needs of   today  students

 

students                     

 

Developed by the National Association for Developmental Education in March 1997 to guide NADE members as they redesign their academic assistance programs for the future.

 

1.       1.      Most political and policy battles concerning developmental education will occur at institutional and state levels.

2.       2.      Policy makers are more interested in developmental education when the emphasis is placed upon the two million postsecondary students served annually rather than concern over the future jobs of the 50,000 members of the profession.

3.       3.      Policy makers can best be influenced by a combination of both quantitative research (regarding student outcome variables -- e.g., grades, retention, graduation rates) -- and qualitative studies (e.g., success stories of individual developmental education students).

4.       4.      Policy makers and the general public will increasingly demand accountability regarding college budget expenditures and college student outcome measures (e.g., testing of all incoming college students, content mastery within the college major upon graduation, graduation rates, length of time taken to graduate, readiness for work).

5.       5.      Due to decisions by state-level policy makers, more states will legislate that developmental education courses in public four-year institutions be decreased or eliminated.  Some of these institutions will subcontract to provide needed developmental courses/programs; other institutions may provide different types of academic assistance for their students.  While the academic needs will remain, the forms of service to students may change.

6.       6.      Policy makers expect research-based solutions for pressing academic problems and issues.

7.       7.      There is a false impression held by an increasing number of policy makers that more stringent high school graduation requirements and more demanding college entrance requirements will eliminate the need for academic assistance and developmental education at the college level.  Rising expectation levels by campus educators often accompany this false impression, therefore negating the expected effect of reducing the need for academic assistance.

 

8.       1.      More students with special needs will be enrolled in postsecondary education (e.g., attention deficit, learning disability, physically challenged, ESL).

9.       2.      There will be a temporary increase in number of 18 to 22 year old college students, then a decrease after 2002.

10.   3.      An increasing proportion of college students will be part-time and returning adult.

11.   4.      Learning style diversity of students will increase.

 

12.   1.      Increasing recognition by institutional leaders and faculty members that students from all levels of academic preparation need learning assistance in one or more of their courses each academic term.  About one-third of all entering students need to enroll in one or more developmental education credit courses.

13.   2.      Institutions will provide more services for students with special needs.

14.   3.      The institution will increasingly address ethnic and learning style diversity.

15.   4.      Except for highly selective admission institutions, the freshmen to sophomore persistence rates continue to decrease. 

 

16.   The dropout rate ranges from 46 percent for open admissions institutions to 9 percent for highly selective institutions.  Though the dropout rate decreases as the admissions selectivity increases, the financial impact of dropouts is notable since higher tuition accompanies elevated admissions selectivity.

 

17.      1.         Diminishing federal financial support for higher education will continue regardless of majority party.

18.      2.         Most states will decrease the percent of annual appropriations for higher education.  Many states will increase the percent of annual appropriations for elementary and secondary education, prisons, and law enforcement.

19.      3.         Increasing numbers of institutions will implement fee-based academic support program activities for both students and academic departments (e.g., students pay for academic tutoring and advisement; students pay a surcharge for developmental courses that may or may not be returned to the learning assistance department; students pay higher tuition for developmental education courses).

20.      4.         Effective developmental education and learning assistance centers that have research-based evidence of positive student outcomes are viewed by many policy makers as important components of enrollment management and student retention programs.

21.      5.         Stable or increasing financial support for developmental education departments with both empirical studies and student interviews that document increased student academic performance.

22.      6.         Business and union leaders link economic development and an educated work force.

 

23.      1.         Regardless of the academic preparation level of incoming students, a proportion of them will need academic assistance.

24.      2.         Research-based instructional improvements will increase student success.

25.      3.         The professional field will continue to develop and disseminate standards of practice.  Some of these standards will be used to credential programs and individuals in the professional field.

26.      4.         More developmental education departments will develop into full service learning centers that help all students -- regardless of their previous levels of academic performance or preparation -- to learn more, earn higher grades, and graduate at higher rates.

27.      5.         Many institutions are establishing learning- and teaching-effectiveness centers to assist with faculty development and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of student learning.  Some are an outgrowth of current learning assistance centers.

28.      6.         More institutions will become partners with local business and industry in developing customized instructional programs.  Learning assistance centers have expertise needed by local employers regarding workplace learning needs.

29.      7.         Services will more often be bundled to increase their synergistic impact on improving student academic success (e.g., programs that involve academic advisement, tutoring, orientation courses, high school/college bridge programs, Supplemental Instruction, developmental courses).

30.      8.         Linked courses (e.g., a content course and a learning strategy course that use material from the content course) are increasing.

31.      9.         Increasing use of emerging technologies for instructional delivery, learning assessment, and communication. 

32.      10.     Increasing recognition that high potential and students enrolled in graduate and professional schools need academic assistance.

33.      11.     Increasing number of articulation agreements and bridge programs between high schools and postsecondary institutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the NADE Strategic Plan, the following is a vision statement for what NADE should look like in the near future. Parts of the vision statement have already been accomplished. Others will take more time.  ABy 2003, NADE will be a nationally recognized association of professionals with expertise to help students academically succeed throughout the entire educational experience from high school through college and graduate/professional school.@

 "Of the nearly 2.4 million students who in 1993 entered higher education for the first time, over 1.5 million will leave their first institution without receiving a degree.  Of those, approximately 1.1 million will leave higher education altogether without ever completing either a 2‑ or 4‑year degree program."‑‑ Tinto, Leaving college, 1993, p. 1.

 

] 

Current debates about higher education have produced an array of proposals about the skills or abilities students ought to possess -- math and computer skills, writing and general literacy skills, understanding cultural heritage, and critical thinking skills.  To these skills we must now add those that our students will need in order to live in the new society of the twenty-first century. These would include:

C           C             Interdependence:  an awareness of reciprocity in relationships and social processes.

C           C             Collaboration:  the ability to work together across cultures, classes, disciplines and professions.

C           C             Holistic vision:  the ability to see things in their totality, to connect parts.

C           C             Cross-cultural communication:  the ability to function, through writing, speaking and small group interactions, in

C           C             multicultural settings.

C           C             Bilingualism and multilingualism:  fluency in several languages."-- Morris, "A multicultural society" 1990, p. 3

 

"In the words of Peter Adler of the East-West Center, multicultural persons have 'psychologically and socially comes to grips with a multiplicity of realities.'  They recognize the importance of cultural context and accept the fact that 'reality' differs from culture to culture."-- Morris, "A multicultural society", 1990, p. 4.

 

 

 

 

 

"A concerted effort to increase student retention will force the institution to examine itself closely, and what is observed will not always be easy to accept."‑‑ American College Testing Program.

 

The improvement of instruction is the most urgent need in colleges and universities today.‑‑ Carnegie Council 1979, 1980; Carnegie Foundation 1977; Levine 1980.

 

"For most institutions, increased student retention will require significant improvement in their programs and services in the classroom and elsewhere."‑‑ American College Testing Program.

 

"Successful institutions know that ultimately student retention is a by‑product of student success and satisfaction."‑‑ Noel, Levitz, & Saluri, Increasing student retention, 1985, p. xiii.

 

"The more students learn, the more they sense they are finding and developing a talent, the more likely they are to persist; and when we get students' success, satisfaction, and learning together, persistence is the outcome.  Reenrollment or retention is not then the goal; retention is the result or by‑product of improved programs and services in our classrooms and elsewhere on campus that contribute to student success."‑‑ Noel, Increasing student retention, 1985, p. 1.

 

 

34.      1.         Attrition should not be accepted passively as a natural phenomenon.

35.      2.         Attrition can be predicted and prevented.

36.      3.         Retention is enhanced by making changes in the overall campus environment.‑‑ American College Testing Program.

 

37.      1.         Natural:  Institution has only limited control.  (Marriage, illness, job offer, change career, mobility)

38.      2.         Stop‑Outs:  May be legitimate since students plan to return.  Institution should not maintain a "captive audience."

39.      3.         Unnecessary:  Institution has control over students experiencing academic, financial, and social adjustment problems.‑‑ American College Testing Program, Inc.

 

--.

 

C           C             Academic boredom and uncertainty

C           C             Transition/adjustment difficulties

C           C             Limited or unrealistic expectations of college

C           C             Academic underpreparedness

C           C             Incompatibility

C           C             Irrelevancy‑‑ Noel, Increasing student retention, 1985, pp. 10‑15.

 

1. Internal forces (Individual experiences with the institution

which affect departure)

C           C             adjustment,

C           C             difficulty,

C           C             incongruence, and

C           C             isolation."

2. External forces

C           C             Obligations to external communities (e.g., family, friends)

C           C             Finances‑‑ Tinto, Leaving college, 1993, p. 37-38.

 

"[Urban] students tend to come with a pattern of 'sitting back and making people believe that they know something' and they operate on that assumption, rather than speaking up and saying, 'I need some help here.'  Collaborative group learning was suggested as a solution to this problem."‑‑ Hamlen, "Teaching urban students", 1989, pp. 6‑7.

 

"College success depends, on the other hand, on skills to manipulate the educational environment to one's advantage, including asking for help, studying and working with peers, and identifying and acknowledging academic confusion."‑‑ Hamlen, "Preparing urban students", 1989, p. 4.

 

 

 

C           C             Academic (Curriculum, Instruction):  progress toward educational career goal; academic success; program      options clear; and advising and support services

C           C             Social/Psychological (Faculty, Peers, Environment):  feeling of belonging; social integration; personal involvement; positive identity; and high self‑esteem ‑‑ American College Testing Program.

 

"If we want to create a staying environment, this responsiveness to student needs must extend to everyone on campus ‑‑ the telephone operator, the receptionist, the clerk at the cashier's window....In short, we need people working in front line positions on our campuses who have a mission, a burning desire, to help students become all that they can become.  Further, we need people who have a tremendous drive to establish rapport with students, people who are able to woo students, who make them feel that they are the most important people on campus ‑‑ not the interruption of their work, but the purpose of it."‑‑ Noel, Increasing student retention, 1985, pp. 17‑18.

 

Institutional Characteristics:  selectivity; control; and type (4

year vs. 2 year)

Experiential Factors:  grade point average; extracurricular

participation; employment; housing; and support services utilization  -‑ American College Testing Program, Inc.

 

 

 

"All freshmen, regardless of background and experience, must develop an interpersonal support system with their fellow students.  They must find friends and participate in activities that require cooperation and good interpersonal skills."‑‑ Upcraft & Gardener, "A comprehensive approach to enhancing freshman success", 1989, p. 2.

 

"We believe freshmen succeed when they make progress toward fulfilling their educational and personal goals:

C           C             developing academic and intellectual competence;

C           C             establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships;

C           C             developing an identity;

C           C             deciding on a career and life‑style; and

C           C             developing an integrated philosophy of life.@ ‑‑ Upcraft & Gardener, "A comprehensive approach to enhancing freshman success", 1989, p. 2.

 

 

"Because the most dependent learners are those at the point of entry into college, academic and student support services should be concentrated most heavily in the freshmen year.  Intrusive, proactive strategies must be used to reach freshmen with these services before they have an opportunity to experience feelings of failure, disappointment, and confusion."  ‑‑ Levitz & Noel, "Connecting students to institutions", 1989, p. 73.

 

"To make the freshman connection, institutions must adopt the concept of 'front loading':  putting the strongest, most student‑centered people, programs, and services in the freshman year.  We must put freshmen in direct contact with the institutional resources that are most effective in promoting personal, social, and academic adjustment."‑‑ Levitz & Noel, "Connecting students to institutions", 1989, p. 79.

 

"We see the highly successful campuses of tomorrow putting students' needs and interests squarely at the center of their organizations today.  They are wrapping programs and services around the student, rather than requiring that an individual student's needs be manipulated so that they might fit the system."‑‑ Noel, Levitz, & Saluri, Increasing student retention, 1985, p. xiv.

 

 

"Drawn from the work of Emile Durkheim and Arnold Van Gennep, this [retention] theory will argue that colleges and universities are like other human communities; that student departure, like departure from human communities generally, necessarily reflects both the attributes and actions of the individual and those of the other members of the community in which that person resides.  Decisions to withdraw are more a function of what occurs after entry than of what precedes it.  They are reflections of the dynamic nature of the social and intellectual life of the communities which are housed in the institution, in particular of the daily interaction which occurs among its members.  Student departure may then serve as a barometer of the social and intellectual health of institutional life as much as of the experiences of students in the institution."‑‑ Tinto, Leaving college, 1993, p. 5.

 

"Effective [retention] programs commonly stress the manner in which their actions serve to integrate individuals into the mainstream of the social and intellectual life of the institution and into the communities of people which make up that life.  They consciously reach out and make contact with students in order to establish personal bonds among and between students, faculty, and staff."‑‑ Tinto in Spann, "Student retention", 1990, p. 19.

 

 

 

"The major constructs of Tinto's model have largely withstood the test of time.  Within this theoretical framework, minority students are at especially high risk of 'malintegration' to academic and social systems.  For students in general, separation from past communities and memberships, and an often bewildering transition to college life, can set the stage for departure during the first year.  For many minority students at predominantly white institutions, the necessary social, cultural, and mental adjustments are simply insurmountable."-- Cibik and Chambers, "Similarities and differences", 1991, p. 130.

 

"Relative to education, under democratic pluralism the commitment is to develop African-American educational institutions from pre-school through the professional and postgraduate level.  This development can only be predicted upon a commitment to academic excellence, competence, and freedom of choice.  But democratic pluralism mandates also that African-American children must be educated and educated effectively wherever they are toward the end of full and productive participation in both African-American society and national life.  Democratic pluralism eschews radical integrationist prescriptions (called for such regimens as bussing for integration purposes) as well as Jim Crow nationalist sentiments making education at Black institutions obligatory.  To reintegrate W.E.B. DuBois's point cited earlier, what African-Americans need is neither integration nor separation.  What African-Americans need is competent and effective education."-- Edwards, "Democratic pluralism", 1991, p. 84.

 

"Earlier, it was stated that the educational process moves forward on four legs (the home, the community, the school, and the receptive mind of the student) and that the crippling of any of these legs cripples the educational process.  Therefore, in the normal course of events, educational outcomes are never the product of any single component of education -- not even the school classroom (Cummins, 1990)."--Edwards, "Democratic pluralism", 1991, p. 49.

 

Among the items mentioned on a checklist for improving minority student retention:  peer study groups; peer tutoring; student/faculty contact; high expectations/ assumption all student can achieve; mentoring; social and cultural activities to increase sensitivity and cross-cultural awareness.-- Conciatore, "Recruitment and retention", 1991, pp. 41-42.

 

This 1990 study surveys 731 students at 5 colleges in New York.  Among the conclusions:

C           C             student success was positively correlated with a hospitable and accepting academic environment created by caring faculty, with departmental concern for students;

C           C             connecting with the institution through faculty, staff, or peer groups cultivated sense of belonging which was itself positively related to favorable GPA.-- Fadale, Factors related to retention, 1990.

 

"It is not necessarily possible for each instructor to be knowledgeable of the nuances of all of the cultural diversity present in each teaching situation.  However, it is possible, and critical, for instructors to be sensitive to cultural differences and not impose their own cultural orientation as a yardstick by which to measure the learners.  And it is critical that they understand their own cultural norms, values, and assumptions and how these affect and are central to their educational practice."-- Knott, "Working with culturally diverse learners", 1991, p. 18.

 

"Creating learning situations in which students draw on what they already know as a vehicle for reaching new learning is vital if students are to develop the confidence they need to succeed in college."-- Claxton, "Learning styles, minority students", 1990, p. 6.

 

"Collaborative learning approaches can also become powerful techniques when incorporated into educational systems which have always stressed competition and "doing your own work" to the detriment of some learners."-- Knott, "Working with culturally diverse learners", 1991, p. 18.

 

"As a whole, appropriate curriculum for nontraditional students should demonstrate sensitivity toward and recognition of the historical and cultural contexts which these students bring with them.  Classroom relevance is not too much to expect for any student, and the trend popularized by writers like Hirsch and Bloom defining cultural literacy in the narrow terms of the dominant group is excluding and contrary to the experience of this increasingly significant clientele.  Academic integration should not mean and cannot occur as -- immersion of ethnically diverse students in the knowledge bases and value systems of the dominant culture only."-- Miller, "Minority student achievement", 1990, p. 8

 

 

40.      1.         Often unable to transfer and apply specific learning strategies to individual classes.

41.      2.         Learning strategies not embedded in classes that students receive content grade.

42.      3.         Real college courses that carry graduation credit increase student motivation.

43.      4.         Without modeling and support, students tend to revert back to old unsuccessful habits.

 

"Students need to learn more than how to develop and when to employ the [learning] strategies, however.  They also need to learn how to transfer specific strategies to the particular academic literacy demands of each course.  Indeed, without effective training for transfer, college reading and learning courses face the very real danger of standing in isolation from the academic disciplines and of remaining mired in the deficit model.  Strategy transfer occurs more naturally when students have a chance to practice the newly learned strategies on their own texts and with tasks perceived to be 'real'."--Stahl, et al., "Ten recommendations from research for teaching high-risk college students", 1992, p. 3.

 

Some researchers have found that enrollment in challenging college-level courses had a more positive impact on improved academic performance in other courses in the same discipline than enrollment in remedial courses.--Bohr, "Courses associated with freshman learning", 1993.

 

"We became aware of the differentiation between 'detached' and 'embedded' programs in the teaching of study skills or strategies.  The more traditional approach of 'detached' programs involves the presentation of study techniques in isolation: 'Since detached programs tend to treat content as tangential to study skills, students are unable to make applications to specific content and little transference or generalization occurs' (Rafoth and DeFabo, 1990, pp. 75).  In contrast, 'embedded' programs present learning and study strategies within the context of specific content and are more likely to result in regular use."--Kerr, "Content specific study strategies:  A repertoire of approaches", 1993, p. 38.

 

"Success in remedial course work does not readily transfer to traditional academic disciplines.  Away from the remedial instructor's influence and back in the traditional academic environment, students revert to their old habits."--Keimig, Raising academic standards:  A guide to learning improvement, 1983, pp. 16-17.

 

 

a. "Linked courses"-pairing of two courses and listing them in the class schedule so that a specific cohort of students co-register for them.  Syllabi and assignments are coordinated.

 

b. "Learning clusters"-three or more courses in a given term are linked together.  Faculty teach the clustered courses as discrete courses, but for students, the clustered courses are a substantial portion of their academic load.

 

c. "Freshman interest groups (FIG)"-three courses are linked together.  A cohort of 25 students enroll together in the three courses.  This model links courses around pre-major topics and has a peer advising component.  Syllabi are not necessarily coordinated.  The peer advisor convenes the cohort of 25 students on a weekly basis.  Issues discussed at the weekly meetings include student life and academic assistance in the courses.

 

d. "Federated learning communities"-three courses are linked together.  In addition, students enroll in a three-credit program seminar, a discussion section related to all three courses and led by a Master Learner(ML).  The ML is a teacher from a discipline outside the federated courses.  The ML learns the course material along with the students and acts as a mentor.  Faculty development of the ML is a side benefit of the program.

 

e. "Coordinated studies"-these programs are team-taught by three to five faculty members and involve sixteen credits per quarter.  Typical programs involve a mix of plenary lecture sessions and small-group work.--Gabelnick, et al., Learning community models, 1990; The Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, "Learning communities taking root", 1994.

 

 

 

Basic principles of formal cooperative learning groups

1) Positive interdependence

C     C       mutual goals-learn the material and social skill

C     C       shared resources-students teach each other

C     C       joint rewards-when all group members exceed standard

C     C       assigned complementary roles by teacher

2) Face-to-face promotive interaction

C     C       students follow lesson structure developed by instructor

C     C       students help each other

C     C       exchange needed information

C     C       process information more quickly in group than alone

C     C       provide feedback to each other

C     C       encourage deeper thought by all members

3) Individual accountability and personal responsibility

C     C       keep group small to maximize individual participation

C     C       give individual test to each student

C     C       have random oral examination of students

C     C       observe small group and log each person's interaction

4) Interpersonal and small group skills development

C     C       decision making

C     C       communication

C     C       conflict management

5) Group processing of small group activities

C     C       Social skill and course content mastery

C     C       Small group and large group

--See Cooper, Johnson, Slavin, Smith, and others

 

 

 

Basic procedures of formal cooperative learning groups

44.      1.         Assign subject matter and the lesson objectives

45.      2.         Assign social skill and what it looks and sounds like.

46.      3.         Students work in groups assigned by instructor.  Roles assigned by the instructor.

47.      4.         Teacher observes the small groups and collects data.  Interventionist takes control of the group and solves problems and the Interactionist facilitates the group as they solve their own problems

48.      5.         Process social skill behavior

49.      6.         Process subject matter knowledge

 

Sample types of activities

#           #          Coop-Coop - student selects mini-topic, research alone, shares with small, then large group

#           #          Jigsaw - student assigned mini-topic, research with others from other groups, then share with group

#           #          Checking homework

#           #          Cooperative learning and testing - student takes test individually, group study, then take as part of group

#           #          Structured academic controversies

#           #          Focused discussions before and after lecture ("bookends")

#           #          Simultaneous explanation pairs

#           #          STAD (Student Teams-Achievement Division) - students receive information, assigned to four person team, work collaboratively to complete assignment, and then tested individually

 

 

 

Two categories of peer collaborative learning groups

1. "Near‑Peer", a group which is facilitated by a peer teacher who is more academically advanced than the other students.

Three types of near-peer teachers:

a. Undergraduate teaching assistants:  these students were recently successful in the target course and generally provide supplemental discussion groups for the currently enrolled students in that course.

 

b. Tutors:  like the undergraduate teaching assistants, they were previously successful in the target course.  The only difference is that they provide academic assistance in a one‑on‑one setting.

 

c. Counselors:  rather than focusing on the specific course content, they tend to emphasize generic study skills and strategies to abate anxiety that may cause difficulty for the student.

 

2. "Co‑Peer", a group which is facilitated by members of the same class who are academically equal to the other members. 

a. Partnerships:  one‑on‑one relationships in which two students are paired for the term.  Throughout the term they alternate roles of teacher and learner between themselves.

 

b. Work Group:  student group shares a common task and must work together to accomplish.  Sometimes with this arrangement, the grade for each individual student is determined by the grade given to the entire group.

‑‑ Whitman, Peer teaching, 1988, pp. 13‑32.

 

"The purpose of all five types of peer teaching [Undergraduate Teaching Assistants, Tutors, Counselors, Partnerships, and Work Groups] is to satisfy needs that much traditional schooling leaves unfilled, rather than promote the agenda of traditional schooling.  Peer teaching assumes that what students should learn includes effective interdependence and social maturity, and it postulates that social maturity and intellectual maturity are inseparable."‑‑ Whitman, Peer teaching, 1988, p. 32.

 

 

50.      1.         Increased involvement with the institution;

51.      2.         Increased student satisfaction with the institution;

52.      3.         Underrepresented populations are more successful;

53.      4.         Informal multi-cultural education;

54.      5.         Peer leaders consider teaching careers;

55.      6.         Increased persistence in college; and

56.      7.         Increased persistence in "hard" majors (e.g., math, engineering, science).

 

 

 

 

57.      1.         More helpful learning environment for some students:  Field-sensitive; Kinaesthetic; Dependent; Adult; and others

58.      2.         Grow the most academically;

59.      3.         Develop social skills;

60.      4.         Increased critical thinking skills;

61.      5.         Increased satisfaction with the institution;

62.      6.         Persist longer in college;

63.      7.         Persist in "hard" majors (e.g., math, engineering, science);

64.      8.         Create social support network;

65.      9.         View students as helpers, not competitors;

66.      10.     Less likely to hesitate to seek help;

67.      11.     Increased self-esteem;

68.      12.     Peer leaders develop closer ties to faculty; and

69.      13.     Peer leaders learn more.

 

"Peer group social economic status produced twenty-one significant direct effects on student outcomes, more than any other peer group or faculty measure."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p.352.

 

"Generally, students tend to change their values, behaviors, and academic plans in the direction of the dominant orientation of their peer group."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 363.

 

Positive effects of student peer group involvement:  degree aspiration, college grade point average, graduating with honors, scholarship (intellectual self-esteem), analytical and problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and overall academic development.-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, pp. 384-385.

 

"Viewed as a whole, the many empirical findings from this study seem to warrant the following general conclusion:  the student's peer group is the simply most potent source of influence on growth and development during the undergraduate years."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 398.

 

"What does seem just possible to accomplish is for people to reacculturate themselves by working together....What we have to do, it appears, is to organize or join a temporary transition or support group on the way to our goal, as we undergo the trials of changing allegiance from one community to another.

 

 The agenda of this transition group is to provide an arena for conversation and to sustain us while we learn the language, mores, and values of the community we are trying to join."--Bruffee, Collaborative learning:  Higher education, interdependence, and the authority of knowledge, 1993, p. 20

 

In research with children of various cultural backgrounds, Ramirez and Castaneda (1974) discovered that European American students tend to be most field-independent learners.  Mexican American, American Indian, and African American students, in contrast, tend to be closer to field sensitive, with Mexican Americans closest to this pole.  Exactly how culture influences learning is not clear.  Ramirez and Castaneda believe that a major goal of what they call culturally democratic education should be bicognitive development.  That is, all children should be exposed to and become adept at both styles of learning.-- Nieto, Affirming diversity,:  The sociopolitical context of multicultural education, 1992, pp. 111-112.

 

"All the specific findings point to, and illustrate, one main idea.  It is that students who get the most out of college, who grow the most academically, and who are happiest, organize their time to include interpersonal activities with faculty members, or with fellow students, built around substantive, academic work."--Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1992, p. 6.

 

"In every comparison of how much students learn when they work in small groups with how much they learn either in large groups or when they work alone, small groups show the best outcomes."-- Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1990, p. 10.

 

"[Students] point out that the process of working in a group, in a supervised setting, teaches them crucial skills.  The skills...include how to move a group forward, how to disagree without being destructive or stifling new ideas, and how to include all members in a discussion.  Few students, if any, have these skills when they arrive at college."-- Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1990, pp. 70‑71.

 

"The many men and few women who form study groups report that they both enjoy their work more, and feel they learn more, because of the academic discussions within these groups.  A side benefit is that for many students a study group also becomes, over time, something of a social support network."-- Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1990, p. 18.

 

"[S]tudents overwhelmingly report that the single most important ingredient for making a course effective is getting rapid response on assignments and quizzes.  This makes each assignment a genuine learning experience, rather than simply an obligation to complete toward a final course grade."-- Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1990, p. 31.

 

"At the Higher Education Research Institute, we recently reviewed this literature and found that collaborative approaches produce better learning in the vast majority of studies; the method is highly cost‑effective and helps solve two of our most vexing pedagogical problems:  large class size and gross differences in educational preparation."

‑‑ Astin, "Competition or cooperation?", 1987, p. 17.

 

"[T]he most important thing about collaborative learning is that it facilitates the development of teamwork skills and encourages the individual student to view each classmate as a potential helper rather than as a competitor.  Under it, students learn to work together toward common goals."‑‑ Astin, "Competition or cooperation?", 1987, p. 17.

 

"Those who stay in science tell of small, student-organized study groups.  They meet outside of formal classes.  They describe enjoying intense and often personal interaction with a good lab instructor.  In contrast, those who switch away from the sciences rarely join a study group.  They rarely work together with others.  They describe class sections and lab instructors as dry, and above all, impersonal."--Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1992, p. 10.

 

"[W]hile the advantages of study groups are widespread, there is one group of students for whom they seem especially important:  young women concentrating in the physical sciences.  In her undergraduate honors thesis, Andrea Shlipak (1988) finds that women who concentrate in physics and engineering consider these small working groups a crucial part of their learning activities....Women who join a small study group are far more likely to persist as science concentrators than those who always or nearly always study alone."--Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1992, p. 54.

 

"The interviews of sophomores by Constance Buchanan and her faculty colleagues show that isolation is the biggest threat to students who are not as productive as they want in their coursework.  They also find that students who begin having trouble are likely to drift into even deeper trouble if they simply keep to themselves, working alone in their rooms hour after hour.  Such students often have a difficult time putting their trouble in a context, seeing if from a perspective that will enable them to get help, or to help themselves.  Not only do students who work in small study groups outside of class commit more time to their coursework, feel more challenged by their work, and express a much higher level of personal interest in their work - they are also much less likely to hesitate to seek help.  (Buchanan et al., 1990)."--Light, Harvard assessment seminars, 1992, pp. 53-54.

 

 

70.      1.         Academic tasks help to focus group efforts;

71.      2.         Peer support in learning the content material;

72.      3.         Development of social support networks provides additional resources for learning;

73.      4.         Non-threatening environment since it is informal, non-graded, and surrounded with peer support;

74.      5.         All students are active participants & contributors to the task;

75.      6.         Students receive immediate non-threatening feedback on academic performance; and

76.      7.         Students receive a comprehensive checkpoint on their own comprehension level of the material.

 

"From the perspective of the individual, a peer group is a collection of individuals with whom the individual identifies and affiliates and from whom the individual seeks acceptance and approval."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 400.

 

"Viewed from a collective or sociological perspective, a peer group would be defined as any group of individuals in which the members identify, affiliate with, and seek acceptance and approval from each other."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 401.

 

"The impact of the peer group will be proportional to the extent to which the individual seeks acceptance and approval from that group.  The magnitude of any peer group effect will be proportional to the individual's frequency and intensity or affiliation or interaction with that group."-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 402.

 

Institutional actions to facilitate formation of peer groups:

C          C            Find a common group on which identification can occur (e.g., career interests, curricular interests, avocational interests)

C          C            Provide opportunities to interact on a sustained basis.-- Astin, What matters in college:  Four critical years revisited, 1993, p. 423.

 

"The most important tool that college and university teachers have at hand to help students reacculturate themselves into the knowledge communities they aspire to join is transition communities.  Transition communities are small, new, temporary communities made up of people who want to make the same change....

 

 

 

 

They organize students into social relationships involving a 'temporary fusion of interests' that allow them to relinquish dependence on their fluency in one community--constituting language (their "old" one) and acquire fluency in the language that constitutes the community of which they are now becoming members (their "new" one).  Enrolled in transition communities, students have a chance to learn and practice, relative to substantive issues, linguistic improvisation...."--Bruffee, Collaborative learning:  Higher education, interdependence, and the authority of knowledge, 1993, p. 75.