Cooperative learning during math lessons in multi-ethnic elementary schools: counting on each other

Abstract

How do social peer interactions (i.e. verbal helping behavior) during a cooperative learning (CL) curriculum in math affect the mathematical, linguistic, and social skills of 10-12 year old pupils from multiethnic classrooms? We developed a CL math curriculum in this thesis to investigate this question, consisting of: (a) a CL training (two lessons), (b) a CL math curriculum (nine lessons), and (c) an individual math exam. During the CL math curriculum, pupils were either stimulated to use verbal helping behavior in their peer interactions (experimental condition), or not stimulated (control condition). Being in the experimental condition proved beneficial for national pupils__ math scores, pupils__ linguistic proficiency -especially that of immigrant pupils - and pupils__ verbal helping behavior. Irrespective of condition, immigrant pupils displayed less helping behavior than national pupils. Mathematically high-achieving immigrant pupils were more motivated to cooperate in the control condition than in the experimental condition. Furthermore, the CL experience increased team members__ cooperativeness and popularity, and decreased the difference in cooperativeness and popularity between immigrant and national team members. Popularity and cooperativeness only increased within ethnically heterogeneous teams, extending the notion that enduring interethnic contact is fruitful for interethnic friendships. The implications of these results are discussed.