Query: effects of student group work

title: A phenomenological research study: Perspectives of student learning through small group work between undergraduate nursing students and educators.
abstract: Small group work is an effective teaching learning approach in nursing education to enhance students' learning in theoretical knowledge and skill development. Despite its potential advantageous effects on learning, little is known about its actual effects on students' learning from students' and educators' perspectives.  To understand students' learning through small group work from the perspectives of students and educators.  A qualitative study with focus group interviews was carried out.  Semi structured interviews with open ended questions were performed with 13 undergraduate nursing students and 10 educators.  Four main themes, "initiative learning" "empowerment of interactive group dynamics" "factors for creating effective learning environment" and "barriers influencing students' learning" were derived regarding students' learning in small group work based on the perspectives of the participants. The results showed the importance of learning attitudes of students in individual and group learning. Factors for creating an effective learning environment, including preference for forming groups, effective group size, and adequacy of discussion, facilitate students' learning with the enhancement of learning engagement in small group work. The identified barriers, such as "excessive group work" "conflicts" and "passive team members" can reduce students' motivation and enjoyment of learning.  Small group work is recognized as an effective teaching method for knowledge enhancement and skill development in nursing education. All identified themes are important to understand the initiatives of students and group learning, factors influencing an effective learning environment, and barriers hindering students' learning. Nurse educators should pay more attention to the factors that influence an effective learning environment and reduce students' commitment and group dynamics. Moreover, students may need further support to reduce barriers that impede students' learning motivation and enjoyment.

title: Collaborative group work: Effects of group size and assignment structure on learning gain, student satisfaction and perceived participation
abstract: Collaborative group sessions in Nijmegen include 15 students who work all together on a group assignment. Sometimes, the group is split up in three and every subgroup elaborates a part of the assignment. At the end, they peer teach each other. It is believed that the split up enhances participation and therefore learning gain.  To establish the effect of group size and structure of the assignment on the perceived participation, the satisfaction and learning gain of collaborative group sessions.  In this study, 27 groups of 15 students were equally divided into: A group: all 15 students working on the complete assignment. B group: subgroups of 5 students working on the complete assignment. C group: subgroups of 5 students working on a smaller part, and peer teaching each other at the end of the group session. All students took a pre test, a post test and a follow up test and completed a questionnaire. Questionnaires were analyzed with a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc by multiple comparisons. Learning gain was analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA.  A group size effect is observed in favor of working in subgroups. Perceived participation of the students differs between A and B (p 0.001) and between A and C (p 0.001) but not between B and C. Also, an assignment effect is found in favor of the smaller assignment combined with peer teaching. The students' satisfaction differs between A and C (p 0.003) and between B and C (p 0.001) but not between A and B. The C group also shows higher test results (p 0.043)  The students prefer smaller groups as well as smaller assignments including peer teaching. A possible larger learning gain of this format needs to be re investigated.

title: Teachers' self efficacy in 14 OECD countries: Teacher, student group, school and leadership effects
abstract: Going beyond previous studies of Teacher Self Efficacy (TSE) we investigated the effects of personal characteristics, student group and school contextual features, and leadership effects on teachers' self efficacy among 44,701 teachers in 2648 schools in 14 OECD countries (in the TALIS 2007 dataset) 88.7% of the variance in TSE resided between teachers, 2.9% between schools, and 8.5% between countries. Going beyond previous single country studies, we show that students' achievement and SES are relevant internationally. Furthermore, the principal's work experience and the leadership style were significant predictors of TSE, and thus suggest a new direction for research in TSE.

title: Improving Student Confidence in Using Group Work Standards
abstract: This is a replication of a study that examined the effects of teaching foundation competencies in group work to social work students and assessed their self confidence in applying these skills. This study improves on the first by utilizing a controlled design.  Twenty six master of social work students were taught group work competencies derived from the International Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups' (IASWG) Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups using didactic activities and micro skill exercises. Students were assessed 4 times on their confidence in group work competencies using a validated 70 item inventory. Group work skills were divided into three blocks and taught successively in an abbreviated multiple baseline design.  The t tests indicated significant increases in confidence ratings after training on the respective skills but not before skills training.  The results provide additional support for the effectiveness of the teaching approach in building student confidence in using IASWG Standards.

title: Assessing the reliability of self and peer rating in student group work
abstract: Peer and self ratings have been strongly recommended as the means to adjust individual contributions to group work. To evaluate the quality of student ratings, previous research has primarily explored the validity of these ratings, as indicated by the degree of agreement between student and teacher ratings. This research describes a Generalizability Theory framework to evaluate the reliability of student ratings in terms of the degree of consistency among students themselves, as well as group and rater effects. Ratings from two group projects are analyzed to illustrate how this method can be applied. The reliability of student ratings differs for the two group projects considered in this research. While a strong group effect is present in both projects, the rater effect is different. Implications of this research for classroom assessment practice are discussed.

title: Groups That Work: Student Achievement in Group Research Projects and Effects on Individual Learning
abstract: Group research projects frequently are used to teach undergraduate research methods. This study uses multivariate analyses to examine the characteristics of higher achieving groups (those that earn higher grades on group research projects) and to estimate the effects of participating in higher achieving groups on subsequent individual learning (grade on final paper) The sample includes 257 students who completed a sociology research methods course at a small liberal arts institution between 2004 and 2015. Group achievement (grade on group research project) is predicted by group size, gender composition of the group, and group's average grade on midterm exams. Group achievement on the research project contributes to subsequent individual learning (grade on final paper) even after controlling for individual characteristics (student's gender, race, and average grade on midterm exams) and group characteristics. The findings support claims that group research projects are an effective pedagogy for undergraduate sociology research methods courses and point to some guidelines for instructors' composition of groups for research projects.

title: The Effects of Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) on Motivation of Saudi EFL Adult Learners
abstract: Students Teams Achievement Division (STAD) is a cooperative learning strategy in which learners work in heterogeneous groups to achieve a common goal. It has been widely used in teaching different subject areas under different settings. This study aimed at investigating the effects of STAD on motivation of Saudi EFL learners. Two intact groups of 1st semester students were selected. One group worked as the experimental group and the other one as the control group. A questionnaire was administered to both groups at the beginning of the semester. The experimental group was taught with STAD whereas the control group was taught with the traditional whole class teacher fronted method. The treatment was administered for two weeks. The same questionnaire was re administered after the treatment. The data was analyzed using independent samples t test. Findings revealed that there was no significant difference (p 0.36 0.05) between the experimental and the control groups in terms of motivation.  Cooperative learning; Motivation; Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD)

title: The effects of computer based simulations on speech language pathology student performance.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a computer based simulated learning environment on student learning in speech language pathology. Despite a growing trend in the implementation of computer based simulated learning environments, no research yet supports its efficacy. In addition, although over half of the United States' speech language pathologists work in school systems, no studies have investigated simulated learning environments that focus on pediatric developmental language disorders as the disorder to be exemplified by the simulations.  Four different cohorts of students (103 total students) received either a traditional learning experience or a computer based simulation experience in a graduate level school aged language disorders course. Groups were equivalent in academic performance and pre experimental knowledge. Pre and post experimental measures of learning were obtained.  Findings demonstrated that the group that was involved with the simulated learning environment outperformed the traditional instruction group in several key areas associated with clinically based educational outcomes.  Simulated learning environments continue to be a positive innovation in the clinical education of speech language pathology students. Implications potentially affect educational models of speech language pathology.

title: Effects of Discovery, Iteration, and Collaboration in Laboratory Courses on Undergraduates' Research Career Intentions Fully Mediated by Student Ownership
abstract: Course based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide a promising avenue to attract a larger and more diverse group of students into research careers. CUREs are thought to be distinctive in offering students opportunities to make discoveries, collaborate, engage in iterative work, and develop a sense of ownership of their lab course work. Yet how these elements affect students' intentions to pursue research related careers remain unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we collected data on three design features thought to be distinctive of CUREs (discovery, iteration, collaboration) and on students' levels of ownership and career intentions from ~800 undergraduates who had completed CURE or inquiry courses, including courses from the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) which has a demonstrated positive effect on student retention in college and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We used structural equation modeling to test relationships among the design features and student ownership and career intentions. We found that discovery, iteration, and collaboration had small but significant effects on students' intentions; these effects were fully mediated by student ownership. Students in FRI courses reported significantly higher levels of discovery, iteration, and ownership than students in other CUREs. FRI research courses alone had a significant effect on students' career intentions.

title: How to structure group work? Conditions of efficacy and methodological considerations in physical education
abstract: This article is grounded in social constructivist perspectives of learning: its purpose is to provide an overview of the 'Interactions Sociales et Acquisition' (ISA) [Social Interactions and Acquisition] French group's research that examines how a peer assisted learning (PAL) group context facilitates students' acquisition of motor and social skills in physical education (PE) Issues addressed include the pairing of students in dyads and how training them to endorse tutor and tutee roles facilitates students to work in small groups. The effects of peer interaction on social relations and the inclusion of students with special needs are also overviewed. Findings regarding the influence of student interactions on learning were derived using a variety of data collection methodologies, including quantitative data used to test the effectiveness of various interactive procedures and qualitative analyses of verbal protocols to better understand the interactive dynamics involved in such learning devices. The ISA work highlights the complementary value of both of these methodological approaches for studying group work effects. ISA findings suggest that PE teachers prepare students for functional interaction group work by taking into consideration the students' characteristics (like gender or desire for control) in the constitution of dyads and then effectively training the tutors to deliver the expected content. Cooperative learning (CL) contexts also provided a viable alternative for facilitating the inclusion of students with disabilities or those with lower initial skill levels.