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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
This report presents the findings of a study consisting of 2 projects concerning primary to secondary transitions and the use of group work. These 2 projects built on a previous project, ScotSPRinG, undertaken 3 years ago in 24 Scottish primary schools which found that significant gains in science attainment and social connectedness between pupils were promoted by using collaborative learning techniques to teach science. Due to the success of these collaborative learning techniques in the primary project, the 2 follow up projects were planned to:
- look for the longevity of the gains observed and particularly how robust the observed changes were after transition from primary to secondary school; and
- see if these techniques could be utilised as effectively in secondary school settings.
Overview of the projects
The first follow up project dealt with effective transfer of skills for pupils between primary and secondary school (the ' Transition Project'). The second project dealt with exploring the effectiveness of collaborative groupwork at raising attainment and promoting more positive attitudes towards science in secondary school (the ' Collaborative Learning/Group work Project').
Findings
The Transition Project
Primary pupils who were involved in the original project (follow-up pupils) were significantly advantaged on the Forces science test which related to their primary experience, and the new specific science test on Materials compared to pupils who were not involved in the original project (non follow-up pupils). This suggested that the ScotSPRinG project had a continuing effect into the early stages of secondary school. In addition follow-up pupils from both urban and rural primary schools reported significantly more positive attitudes towards science than pupils who were not involved in the original study prior to transition. On other measures ( e.g. self-esteem) there were few consistent differences between the groups.
The Collaborative Learning/Groupwork Project
On the specific science tests given before and after the implementation of the collaborative learning teaching methods, the scores of both the experimental and control groups increased. On the pre-post implementation general science attainment ( AAP) test, again both the experimental and control groups showed increased scores. In Earth in Space the experimental groups increased their pre-post science test scores by a significantly greater amount than the control groups. In each of the additional topics tested (Earth in Space and Materials) the follow-up control children showed significantly greater increases in their science test scores than non follow-up pupils. Therefore, considering all the results together, there was no evidence that the project in secondary school resulted in significant gains in science attainment. However, there was evidence that follow-up pupils (in both the experimental and control groups) were advantaged in their learning of science by the original primary school project. This finding adds weight to the findings of the transition project that transfer of gains obtained through the primary school project in collaborative learning into secondary school was possible. The fact that the implementation of the collaborative learning project in secondary school did not yield significant results in the same manner as the primary school project could have a number of explanations. It could be that the instability caused in the breaking and reforming of peer groups causes collaborative work to be less effective than when implemented in a setting where the children have been at school together and possibly in the class for up to 6 years. Another explanation may be that the pedagogical approaches that form the basis of collaborative group work approaches are more suitable to the flexibility of the primary school context or that more stable and established peer groups are required to maximise their potential to promote learning. The implications here for transfer of other forms of learning are considerable.
However, there might be a differentiation between those follow-up pupils from rural locations and those from urban locations. Rural pupils seemed to do better. This is in contrast to the expectation that rural pupils would have greater difficulty adapting to secondary school. On sociometric measures at pre-implementation test, the non-follow-up pupils reported significantly greater percentages of other pupils that they worked with in class and saw socially outside of class (at break time and out of school) indicating greater social orientation to their peers in the class as a whole. Follow-up pupils tended to focus upon group relations ( i.e. those with peers who were in their science work group) rather than relations with the whole class, and by post-implementation test the non-follow-up pupils also tended to have shifted in the same direction. The follow-up pupils who originated from primary schools in both rural and urban settings reported significantly more positive attitudes towards science.
Thus there is evidence of the ScotSPRinG primary group work project having enduring effects on attainment and attitudes 2 years later in secondary school. In addition there is evidence that the effect may have been as a result of gains in social dimensions of learning (particularly attitudes towards science and level of connectedness to the peer group). However, there is no consistent evidence of effectiveness for the secondary collaborative learning/group work project in science.
Policy and practice implications
The implications for policy and practice are straightforward.
- Primary collaborative learning / group work projects have an enduring impact on science achievement and can be recommended as a project of choice
- Secondary collaborative learning / group work projects have no consistent impact on science achievement and cannot be recommended as an intervention on this evidence
It might be that the project was not sufficiently powerful to produce effects. However, a more intensive project would struggle with issues of expansion and sustainability. Alternatively, it might be that a different kind of project working within the same timetabling, staffing and organisational constraints as the collaborative learning project may have worked in secondary schools, but it is difficult to see how such a project might be structured.
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