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The Impact of Collaboration in the Learning of Secondary School Statistics

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Noorul Diana Sulaiman
Noorul Diana Sulaiman
Noorul Diana Sulaiman
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Masitah Shahrill at Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Masitah Shahrill
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Abstract and Figures

Collaborative approaches to teaching and assessing students have been long practised by educators in a variety of educational settings. Collaborative learning is useful in developing students’ ability to learn to work as a team while getting them engaged in the learning activities. This study investigates the impact of collaboration in the learning of secondary school Statistics in three government secondary schools in Brunei Darussalam. In total, 71 Year 7 students participated in this study. A series of lessons and group-based activities on Statistics were conducted that consisted of hands-on activities and application of mathematical concept to real-life problems and worksheet-based instruction. Data were collected using pre- and post-tests on secondary school Statistics; a readily available 4-point student work rubrics was used as reference on collaboration that focused specifically on the level of collaboration skills acquired; and a questionnaire on students’ attitudes on collaborative learning. The results from the pre- and post-tests revealed an 11.8% increase in the test scores, and 47.9% of the students worked collaboratively within their groups and shared the responsibility towards the given tasks. The responses from the questionnaire indicated that 96% of the students found working collaboratively as a group assisted them in enhancing their learning of Statistics. Majority of the students also believed that they gained more knowledge and learnt specific skills and processes when they work in groups. This study has shown that collaborative learning helped to improve students’ performance academically as well as to develop the necessary skills of the 21st Century.
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The Impact of Collaboration on the
Learning of Secondary School Statistics
The IAFOR North American Conference on Education 2014
(NACE 2014)
Providence, RI, USA
25 – 28 September 2014
Noorul Diana Sulaiman
Sekolah Tinggi Perempuan Raja Isteri, Ministry of
Education,
Brunei Darussalam
&
Masitah Shahrill
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education,
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam
Background
The implementation of new education system, SPN21 (
Sistem
Pendidikan Negara Abad Ke-21
) hoped to raise the national education
in Brunei Darussalam to higher level of excellence.
'Traditional teaching' approaches will not help students to become
critical thinkers or be actively involved in the learning process.
The SPN21 curriculum encourages teachers to prepare learning
activities that allow students to work actively as individual or in
groups and teachers to take the role as facilitators in these learning
processes.
The 21CLD (21st Century Learning Design) provided teachers with
rubrics on 6 dimensions: Collaboration, Knowledge Construction, the
Use of ICT, Self-regulation, Real-world Problem-solving and
Innovation, and Skilled Communication.
2
Research Questions
3
The research questions investigated are:
1) How effective was collaborative learning towards students'
achievement in mathematics regardless of their level of ability?
2) What number code according to the 4-point rubric did students
demonstrate after the implementation of collaboration to their learning
process, based from the use of 21CLD Student Work Rubrics on
Collaboration as reference?
3) What were students' attitudes towards collaborative learning?
Literature Review
4
Collaborative learning is an instruction method in which students at
various performance levels work together in small groups toward a
common goal (Gokhale, 1995).
Seventh-grade students working collaboratively in small groups on
computational math problems scored significantly higher than those
equivalent-ability students working individually (Webb, 1993).
Collaborative learning activities such as allowing students to provide
explanations of their understanding, can help students elaborate and
reorganize their knowledge (Van Boxtel, Van der Linden &
Kanselaar, 2000).
Working with others in groups promotes students to be academically
engaged through the added responsibility of group performance.
Methodology
•Classroom research approach
•Mixed qualitative and quantitative
•Sample for this investigation:
3 Government Secondary Schools in Brunei Darussalam
79 Year 7 students
•Data collected through:
Pre-test and Post-test,
Students' Questionnaires,
Students' work (group project and group presentation)
5
Framework of the study
6
Figure 1
: Framework of the administration of the research study
How effective was collaborative learning
towards students' achievement in mathematics
regardless of their level of ability?
Table 1.
Results between pre-test and post-test
Results
7
Test N
Total
mark Highest
mark Lowest
mark Range
Mean
mark Standard
Deviation
Pre-test 71 50 46 12 34 31.00 9.23
Post-test 71 50 50 22 28 42.80 6.21
There were improvements on students' performance in the post-test
compared to the pre-test.
Most students have shown good improvements in their newly
acquired knowledge on Statistics in terms of the achievement of
mathematics test given.
Table 2
. Frequency and mean from the group project and presentation for each code
from the 4-point rubrics
8
Results
What number code according to the 4-point rubric did students
demonstrate after the implementation of collaboration to their
learning process, based from the use of 21CLD Student Work
Rubric on Collaboration as reference?
4-point rubrics for the dimension collaboration of the
21CLD Student Work rubrics
Number code
1
Students are NOT
required to work
together in pairs
or groups
2
Students DO
work together
BUT they DO
NOT share
responsibility
3
Students DO have shared
responsibility BUT they are
NOT required to make
substantive decisions
together
4
Students DO have
shared responsibility
AND they DO make
substantive decisions
together
Frequency 0 24 34 13
Frequency in
percentages (%) 0 33.8 47.9 18.3
9
Results
What number code according to the 4-point rubric did students
demonstrate after the implementation of collaboration to their
learning process, based from the use of 21CLD Student Work
Rubric on Collaboration as reference? (cont.)
Although students demonstrated they worked in groups, they
needed to be more exposed on working collaboratively and
reminded of their role(s) within their group.
To ensure the effective use of collaborative learning towards the
success of their group.
10
Results
3) What were the students' attitude towards
collaborative learning?
11
Results
3) What were the students' attitude towards
collaborative learning?
Conclusions
Based on the pre- and post-tests results, collaborative learning on the
topic Statistics had positive impact on students' achievement regardless
of students' ability.
47.9% of the students, being the highest frequency, acquired code 3 on
the Collaboration skill rubrics ratings. This indicated that our students
were considered to be performing well working in a group.
Responses from the questionnaire indicated that students demonstrated
a positive attitude towards collaborative learning.
This study also indicated that mathematics teachers should try to give
more exposure to their students on collaborative learning through
group assignments, projects and presentation.
12
Recommendations
To give students proper guidance in using collaborative learning. If
students understood the criteria on the 21CLD Student Work rubrics,
students may benefit more from collaborative learning.
Having the patience and commitment in implementing collaborative
learning from both parties, teachers and students.
To improve future research study, having someone skilled in using the
21CLD rubrics to assist the mathematics teachers will be beneficial. In
addition, the other 5 dimensions of the 21CLD should also be
included.
The findings from this study could be used by the Curriculum
Development Department of the Ministry of Education in Brunei
Darussalam to improve the secondary mathematics curriculum.
13
References
Gokhale, A. A. (1995). Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking.
Journal of Technology Education, 7(1). Retrieved from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html
Van Boxtel, C., Van der Linden, J., & Kanselaar, G. (2000).
Collaborative learning tasks and the elaboration of conceptual
knowledge.
Learning and Instruction, 10
(4), 311–330.
Webb, N. M. (1993). Collaborative group versus individual assessment
in mathematics: Group processes and outcomes.
Educational Assessment,
1
(2), 131-152.
14
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
15
Noorul Diana Sulaiman (fuzzie_818@hotmail.com)
Masitah Shahrill (masitah.shahrill@ubd.edu.bn)
Acknowledgment:
Video presentation prepared by Hjh Norhakimah Hj Mohd Nor
(BSc (Hons), MSc, MTeach)
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