Proposal Title
Can we facilitate student success in group work? The impact of lab group composition on student outcomes
Session Type
Presentation
Room
FNB 1220
Start Date
4-7-2019 11:00 AM
Keywords
Small-group learning; laboratory; first-year experience; student attitude
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
Learning in laboratory groups is a vital component of science courses; indeed, it is one of the most traditional forms of active, collaborative teaching approaches. We as instructors are always seeking evidence-based approaches to help students form effective groups. Most existing research in group learning focuses on conceptual knowledge and little has been known about non-content learning outcomes and the effect of lab group composition. In this study, we investigated group formation process and lab composition using a wide range of measures, including confidence in lab skills, attitudes towards group learning, lab grades, some demographic variables, and student perspectives. With pre and post data collected from >800 first-year biology students over 3 semesters, we used regression models to predict student outcomes based on individual and group attributes. Surprisingly, the impact of some variables was insignificant: notably, group heterogeneity, and whether the groups were student-selected or instructor-selected. Further analysis suggested that student interaction outside of the lab was a strong predictor of positive student attitudes toward group learning. We also explored differences between instructor-selected and student-selected groups in demographic composition (gender and year of study), as well as the influence of such difference in student outcomes. Our findings have important instructional implications for any science courses that incorporate group projects. Attendees will come away with new perspectives of how we instructors can facilitate group learning and promote positive student outcomes in our courses.
Elements of Engagement
During this interactive presentation, attendees will be invited to share their own experiences, highlights, and challenges with student group formation in different contexts. Further, we will invite attendees to make predictions about the study findings, and to propose their own interpretations and conclusions from the data. We’re hoping it will get loud in the room!
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Can we facilitate student success in group work? The impact of lab group composition on student outcomes
FNB 1220
Learning in laboratory groups is a vital component of science courses; indeed, it is one of the most traditional forms of active, collaborative teaching approaches. We as instructors are always seeking evidence-based approaches to help students form effective groups. Most existing research in group learning focuses on conceptual knowledge and little has been known about non-content learning outcomes and the effect of lab group composition. In this study, we investigated group formation process and lab composition using a wide range of measures, including confidence in lab skills, attitudes towards group learning, lab grades, some demographic variables, and student perspectives. With pre and post data collected from >800 first-year biology students over 3 semesters, we used regression models to predict student outcomes based on individual and group attributes. Surprisingly, the impact of some variables was insignificant: notably, group heterogeneity, and whether the groups were student-selected or instructor-selected. Further analysis suggested that student interaction outside of the lab was a strong predictor of positive student attitudes toward group learning. We also explored differences between instructor-selected and student-selected groups in demographic composition (gender and year of study), as well as the influence of such difference in student outcomes. Our findings have important instructional implications for any science courses that incorporate group projects. Attendees will come away with new perspectives of how we instructors can facilitate group learning and promote positive student outcomes in our courses.