The effects of cooperative learning on junior high school students during small group learning

Robyn M Gillies

Learning and Instruction Vol. 14, No. 2 (April 2004) pp. 197–213

The study investigated the effects of cooperative learning on junior high school students who worked in structured or unstructured cooperative groups. Two hundred and twenty-three junior high school students participated in the study and worked in...

Language: English

Dialogic interactions in the cooperative classroom

Robyn M. Gillies

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 76, No. 1 (2016) pp. 178–189

Attention in recent years has turned to the key role talk plays in mediating students’ learning when they work cooperatively together. There is no doubt that talk, albeit by the teacher or peers, has the capacity to stimulate and extend students’...

Language: English

Structuring cooperative group work in classrooms

Robyn M. Gillies

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 39, No. 1 (2003) pp. 35–49

Cooperative, small-group learning is widely recognised as a pedagogical practice that promotes learning and socialisation across a range of curriculum areas from primary school through to high school and college. When children work cooperatively...

Language: English

The effects of communication training on teachers’ and students’ verbal behaviours during cooperative learning

Robyn M. Gillies

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 41, No. 3 pp. 257–279

The present study sought to compare the effects of training teachers in specific communication skills designed to promote thinking and scaffold learning on teachers’ and students’ verbal behaviours during cooperative group work. Thirty teachers and...

Language: English

Developments in classroom-based talk

Robyn M. Gillies

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 63, No. 1 (2014) pp. 63–68

The articles in this issue of the journal on classroom-based talk document recent international developments in this research and demonstrate the power of talk to affect how teachers teach and how students learn across a range of different classroom ...

Language: English

Increasing Explanatory Behaviour, Problem-Solving, and Reasoning within Classes Using Cooperative Group Work

Robyn M. Gillies; Michele Haynes

Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences Vol. 39, No. 3 (May 2011) pp. 349–366

The present study builds on research that indicates that teachers play a key role in promoting those interactional behaviours that challenge children's thinking and scaffold their learning. It does this by seeking to determine whether teachers who...

The effects of teacher discourse on students’ discourse, problem-solving and reasoning during cooperative learning

Robyn M. Gillies; Asaduzzaman Khan

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 47, No. 6 pp. 323–340

The study sought to determine if teachers who are taught specific communication skills designed to challenge students’ cognitive and metacognitive thinking during cooperative learning use more challenging and scaffolding behaviours to mediate...

Language: English

Social interactions that support students’ self-regulated learning: A case study of one teacher's experiences

Effat Alvi; Robyn M. Gillies

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 72, No. 1 (2015) pp. 14–25

Developing self-regulated learning (SRL) among students is critically important to enable success in and beyond school. This case study highlights the practices of an experienced Grade 7 teacher, Janet (pseudonym), who supported students’ SRL...

Language: English

Teachers' reflections on cooperative learning: Issues of implementation

Robyn M. Gillies; Michael Boyle

Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies Vol. 26, No. 4 (May 2010) pp. 933–940

Cooperative learning (CL) is a well documented pedagogical practice that promotes academic achievement and socialization, yet many teachers struggle with implementing it in their classes. This study reports on the perceptions of 10, middle-year...

Language: English

Teachers’ discourse during cooperative learning and their perceptions of this pedagogical practice

Robyn M. Gillies; Michael Boyle

Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies Vol. 24, No. 5 (July 2008) pp. 1333–1348

This article describes the types of discourse seven high school teachers used during cooperative leaning. One classroom lesson where students worked in cooperating groups was audiotaped and fully transcribed for each teacher and a vignette of two of ...

Language: English

How to Support Primary Teachers' Implementation of Inquiry: Teachers' Reflections on Teaching Cooperative Inquiry-Based Science

Robyn M. Gillies; Kim Nichols

Research in Science Education Vol. 45, No. 2 (April 2015) pp. 171–191

Many primary teachers face challenges in teaching inquiry science, often because they believe that they do not have the content knowledge or pedagogical skills to do so. This is a concern given the emphasis attached to teaching science through...

Teaching collaborative skills to primary school children in classroom-based work groups

Robyn M. Gillies; Adrian F. Ashman

Learning and Instruction Vol. 6, No. 3 pp. 187–200

One hundred and ninety-two Grade 6 children participated in a study which compared the effects on behavioural interactions and achievement of (a) cooperative learning in which group members were trained to collaborate to facilitate each other's...

Language: English

The effects of two strategic and meta-cognitive questioning approaches on children's explanatory behaviour, problem-solving, and learning during cooperative, inquiry-based science

Robyn M. Gillies; Kim Nichols; Gilbert Burgh; Michele Haynes

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 53, No. 1 (2012) pp. 93–106

Teaching students to ask and answer questions is critically important if they are to engage in reasoned argumentation, problem-solving, and learning. This study involved 35 groups of grade 6 children from 18 classrooms in three conditions (cognitive ...

Language: English

Out-of-field teaching and professional development: A transnational investigation across Australia and South Africa

Anna E. du Plessis; Robyn M. Gillies; Annemaree Carroll

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 66, No. 1 (2014) pp. 90–102

This paper critically reflects on the lived meaning of out-of-field teaching for professional development. Out-of-field teaching is a commonly used term that refers to teachers who are assigned to teach subjects and year levels when they are not...

Language: English

Primary students’ scientific reasoning and discourse during cooperative inquiry-based science activities

Robyn M. Gillies; Kim Nichols; Gilbert Burgh; Michele Haynes

International Journal of Educational Research Vol. 63, No. 1 (2014) pp. 127–140

Teaching children to ask and answer questions is critically important if they are to learn to talk and reason effectively together, particularly during inquiry-based science where they are required to investigate topics, consider alternative...

Language: English