Creating Effective Cooperative Groups in 3 rd Grade Math Classes

1. Creating Effective Cooperative Groups in 3rd Grade Math Classes Rebecca R. Kish Dr. Sharon O’Connor-Petruso Brooklyn College 10.24.13 CBSE 7202T

2. Table of Contents • Research Design • Threats to Internal Validity • Threats to External Validity • Sample Student Survey • Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations • References

3. Research Design My action research project titled: “How can cooperation amongst students in small groups amongst 3rd grade math students be improved?” will be conducted based on one pre-experimental design of pre-test, exposure to treatment, and post-test over a period of seven weeks. The participants are 23 third graders in a private school in Hoboken, New Jersey. Participants will be exposed to cooperative group training and role assignments. My findings will be the results of surveys, pre vs. post test mathematics scores, student self-evaluations, and observational notes. Representation: OXO One Group, Pre-Experimental Design (one treatment group, no control group, not a random sample). Single group is pre-tested (O), exposed to treatment (X), and post-tested (O). Rationale: By introducing curriculum that explains the roles of students in the classroom and giving students the opportunity to evaluate themselves within their group dynamic, students may begin to show more positive attitudes towards group work, as well as contribute to their peers understanding of number sense, possibly improving test scores. This idea stems from observations of work groups being formed randomly and students not taking on roles of leadership and cooperation.

4. Threats to Internal Validity • History: Historical events can cause an internal validity threat. This action research project will be conducted over the course of seven weeks. There is a possibility of natural weather events that may cause schools to close, or extreme weather that can delay arrival to school or distract students from their tasks. • Maturation: Participants in this study may find that they are ready to take on more mature roles in the classroom as they settle into routines in which they are held accountable for their behavior. • Selection-Maturation Interaction: There is a possibility that students will have different maturation rates given that they share a classroom and school day with older students who serve as leaders and models of steady, more mature behavior. As these third graders look to their older peers, they might mimic and display this behavior in common meeting areas and while working in groups.

5. Threats to External Validity • Experimenter Effects: Passive threats are possible in that the teacher’s age and genders are similar and both female, creating a dynamic of female co-teaching that may have an affect on students who relate better to male figures or are part of gender specific cooperative sports that utilize cooperative learning. Active threats exist because some students are receiving behavioral or academic intervention, causing them to have more contact with the teachers and develop a more one-on-one relationship with their teachers. • Multiple Treatments: Students will receive cooperative group work instruction once a week over a duration of seven weeks. Cooperative group work instruction may occur outside the math period, influencing the way groups think about cooperative learning. • Pretest-Treatment: There will be pre-testing, increasing the chance of external threats to validity.

6. Student Survey Sample

7. Student Survey Sample

8. Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations

9. Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations

10. References O’Connor-Petruso, S. (2010). Descriptive Statistics Threats to Validity [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/portal