Susan R. Swing

The Relationship of Student Ability and Small-Group Interaction to Student Achievement:

This study examined student ability and student behaviors during small-group interaction as hypothesized mediators of the effectiveness of small-group learning. Fifth-grade students (N = 43) completed ability and attitude pretests. Students were stratified on ability and randomly assigned to small groups within class. The small groups were assigned randomly to either a treatment or control condition. The treatment group was trained in small-group interaction. Students received regular classroom instruction in mathematics for 4 weeks. Each day after the teacher presented new material using direct instruction, students worked on assignments in mixed ability groups of four students. Achievement, retention, and attitude toward mathematics were assessed. A Mann-Whitney comparison showed that trained students participated in more task-related interaction than did control students. Results suggested that task-related interaction in the small group enhanced the achievement and retention of high and low ability students but did not facilitate the achievement of medium ability students.

Students’ Cognitions and Time on Task During Mathematics Instruction

This study investigated students’ reports of attention, understanding, cognitive processes and affect during mathematics instruction. Two classes of fifth grade students (N = 38) were taught a 9-day mathematics unit on measurement by one of their teachers. Students were videotaped during instruction and interviewed subsequently using a stimulated-recall procedure. Students completed an achievement test and questionnaires about their attention, cognitive processes, motivational self-thoughts, and attitudes toward mathematics. Results suggest that students’ reports of attention, understanding, and cognitive processes were more valid indicators of classroom learning than observers’ judgments of students’ time on task. Findings also indicate that students’ reported affect as well as cognitions mediated the relationship between instructional stimuli and student achievement and attitudes.

Problems in Classroom Implementation of Cognitive Strategy Instruction

The purpose of this chapter is to describe problems that need to be solved before cognitive strategy instruction can be implemented effectively in classrooms. At this point, these problems are not clearly defined because few attempts have been made to train students in cognitive strategies for classroom use. Moreover, in the few studies that have been done, researchers have not attempted to identify the specific variables that are related to unsuccessful classroom implementation of cognitive strategy instruction (see Peterson & Swing, Note 1). The questions that need to be addressed and the problems that must be solved include the following: 1. Can individually administered cognitive strategy training be adapted effectively

Aptitude-Treatment Interaction Effects of Three Social Studies Teaching Approaches

Study 1 investigated naturally occurring aptitude-treatment interactions (ATI) with three teaching approaches: lecture-recitation, inquiry, and public issues discussion. Study 2 attempted to replicate these ATI in a short-term study. Teachers taught social studies to ninth-grade students according to one approach. Students completed aptitude measures at the beginning of each study and achievement measures at the end. Results indicated that when an experimenter-constructed test was the outcome, the lecture-recitation approach was superior. But relative effectiveness of the approaches also depended on students’ ability and level of conformance. When the measure of student performance was based on objectives of the approach, the results showed an ATI for ability × anxiety that was partially replicated across studies.