Cooperative learning with computers in statistics education

Teachers as Action Researchers

The idea of technology in the classroom is one that is growing in popularity. One of the reasons for this is that it is a kind of cooperative learning technique and promotes interaction between the students as they work on computers with one another. This interaction and the cooperative learning techniques that these students learn help them to succeed in school and in later life as they move into college or into their careers. Cooperative instructional techniques such as working together on a computer to solve a problem have been around for some time and they have been used more widely in recent years as certain topics lend themselves to this type of learning more so than basic and traditional classroom instruction (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Many studies have been done on this issue in order to determine whether cooperative instruction is better for all types of courses and learning or whether it only works well on some occasions (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981).

In one study, approximately one-quarter of class time was utilized for cooperative learning experiences (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). These were introduced into a section of a statistics course for beginners (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). These techniques were tracked carefully and then the comprehension of the students who dealt with these types of techniques was compared with students who took the same course and had traditional instruction methods (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). The study results indicated that students who had been taught using cooperative education techniques had higher comprehension scores in all of the four topics as opposed to the students who had only a standard learning instruction (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981).

Naturally, all of those who teach wish to improve the learning experience of their students and this has become a very consistent goal (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Much of this began in the 1990s when various specialists who worked in the field of statistical education became much more outspoken in what they recommended regarding how statistics was taught to individuals. This is particularly true at an introductory level such as high school where most students struggle (Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). The use of computers can therefore help these students to learn more and learn faster.

Other studies have indicated that students who worked together in small groups and actively involved themselves in the construction of knowledge tended to learn better than those who simply remained in standard classroom instruction where a teacher explained to them what it is that they need to be doing and then they go and practice it (Dietz, 1993). This does not mean that cooperative learning via technology will work for all individuals or that it is appropriate for every subject. However, many subjects can be taught much more easily through this method, and the students who involve themselves in these experiences often come away with a much clearer understanding of what they have learned (Dietz, 1993). There have been several meta-analyses done which have looked at a comparison between the achievement results between individuals taught in a cooperative learning environment, individuals taught in a standard learning environment, and individuals taught in a competitive learning environment.

Statement of the Problem

The problem that will be addressed here is whether teachers at the local high school are using technology effectively in the instruction that they offer in the classroom. Since this is related to the cooperative learning that students need for 'real life,' the idea of technology is very important. However, when teachers are reluctant to use technology or when they do not have the resources that they need, the use of technology can become a problem for teachers and students alike. The purpose of this study will be to examine the problem in question in order to determine what is occurring right now and what should be done in the future to help solve the problem that is being seen. There are many reasons that technology might not be used as much as it should be at the local high school, and these reasons will be addressed. Also addressed will be whether cooperative learning of this type has been shown to work well and whether high schools that use technology, especially in classes that relate to business, show students with higher success when they move forward into college and careers.

Research Question

The research question for this study will be: are teachers at the local high school using technology effectively in classroom instruction?

Review of Related Literature

Those who work as educators in the field of educating others for careers must be aware of the role that technology and computers play in that field, and must therefore be able not only to use these things to educate their students but also to assess how much they have learned from the courses that they have taken. Langer (1997) came up with what he called 'the seven myths of learning.' These myths will be discussed here, because they are important to the field of business, and to other fields of learning as well, and as technology advances some of what was previously thought about learning and assessing that learning has changed a great deal. This is significant not only for the students and educators of today, but for those that come along in the future as well. This type of information will help to show how important computers and technology are when it comes to learning. It used to be that technology was taught in college, but it is beginning earlier now, and those that teach high school must spend more time getting acquainted with technology.

The workplace is changing very rapidly and technology has much to do with that (Vangermeersch, 1997). Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the abilities and skills that students graduating from business schools and high schools must have in order to succeed in many of the opportunities for employment that they will see in the future. Over the last several years, these strong changes that have occurred within the business world have made many schools stop and re-evaluate the programs that they have and the way that they assess their students' learning in order to help prepare these students more fully for the careers that they will be involved in.

Those that work as educators have begun to realize that the business community has different needs than it did even ten years ago and they must respond to these and adapt the programs that they have at their schools in order to be prepared for changes that take place within the business environment. Many of the skills that were deemed necessary and appropriate for those graduating may not be effective or applicable in preparation for the challenges that they will face (Vangermeersch, 1997). Many professionals in the field of business have voiced these types of concerns to those in academics and this made it even clearer that school programs must work to improve continuously if they expect to produce graduates that are employable and competent (Tanyel, Mitchell, & McAlum, 1999). One of the main areas that graduates appear to struggle in is having enough experience with computers and technology (Tanyel, Mitchell, & McAlum, 1999).

The first myth that Langer (1997) discussed is that the basics that are taught must be learned so thoroughly that they will become second nature. Many problems that are faced by businesses come from applying methodologies so rigidly that examining the overall risk of a particular business or looking at it in a new way never takes place (Bell, et al., 1997). Because there is such a strong emphasis placed on learning the basics, the decision-making is often very rigid and in some cases this is a large problem because varying the process of one's judgment may be much more advantageous than being rigid (Langer & Piper, 1987). If something that needs to be done in business differs significantly from what is generally seen, those that have been taught the basics so thoroughly often struggle with this new concept.

The second myth that is dealt with states that paying attention requires only being focused on one particular issue at a time. Single-mindedness has traditionally been seen where paying attention is concerned (Langer, 1997). Being mindful, however, indicates that focusing on more than one issue can actually enhance the concentration that an individual has instead of distracting them and will allow them to focus on both something that is familiar and on something that is considered novel to a specific situation. There are several ways to create meaningful distractions but expanding upon the topic by topic coverage that is very common in business schools is seen as one way to do this.

The third myth argues that the delaying of gratification is very important. One way to bring more gratification into the classroom and learning experience is the integration of a novel as part of the instruction in the classroom. There are many individuals that do enjoy reading novels as opposed to textbooks and therefore may see this type of assignment as providing immediate gratification. This can also allow individuals that are considering a particular career opportunity to view that type of career when seen in a real world type of context (Loebbecke, 1999). Having discussion questions and dealing with issues that were involved in the novel help students to learn more easily and put the information that they are learning in their textbooks into context. Another way is to work with the discussion questions via computer so that these students learn more about technology at the same time that they are learning other issues.

The fourth myth that Langer (1997) discusses is that memorizing information by rote is necessary within the education field. It is very important that instructors identify very explicitly skills that are being tested or emphasized within a given assignment (Shuell, 1988). However, this does not mean that simply learning information and offering it back on a test teaches individuals much about the topic that they are involved with when it comes to contextual basis of the real world. It is often helpful for specifics that must be learned but requires much more work when something that has been learned must be generalized to a circumstance that has different parameters (Reimann & Schult, 1996).

The fifth myth that is discussed is that forgetting things is a problem. Individuals often worry about forgetting information once they have learned it. However, many advances in technology have increased information availability so much that the need for information on a closed-book basis is not as strong as it may have been in the past (Langer, 1997). When information is learned in a mindful way, the individual is much more open to how the same information might differ where other situations are concerned. If an individual forgets how he or she did something in the past better solutions might actually appear when the individual thinks about the issue a second or third time.

In 1878, a man named William James talked about the meaning of truth. This is important for myth number six, which implies that intelligence requires knowing what is 'out there' in the world. James (1878) said that all experience is actually a process and therefore there is no point-of-view that can actually be the last one. Each point-of-view is off-balance and insufficient in some way and therefore responsible to other points-of-view as well. There are many theories regarding intelligence and most of them assume that an absolute reality is somewhere out there, and that having intelligence is correlated in a positive manner with being aware of this reality (Langer, 1997).

The seventh and final myth that Langer (1997) discusses is that there are answers that are right or wrong. Being able to create and develop, as well as discover, meaningful choices, relates to uncertainty. Uncertainty can help enhance thinking and creative methods but many students usually view the facts that they are given in a classroom as being unconditionally true (Langer, 1997). Being mindful, however, puts data in the perspective of being a potential source for ambiguity and exercising personal control in making a choice of how information will be utilized and this will affect not only the relevance of that information but its interpretation as well. In other words, an answer that may be seemingly inadequate may actually be very adequate when looked at in another context.

The questions that students ask and responses that they give should be paid close attention to by educators, because the ideas that they contain and the discoveries that they indicate may be extremely creative (Langer, 1997). This is also part of the reason that computers and technology should be utilized to assess what individuals are learning today because they can be made to look at issues in different ways than they have in the past. Research that is still relatively recent has emphasized evaluating answers that are not correct in helping educators understand what students actually are aware of and what they are not (Alexander, Murphy, & Kulikowich, 1998). In other words, simply because a student gets a wrong answer does not necessarily mean that the student is incapable of understanding the concept.

Analysis

It can be seen from the information presented above that the quantitative method of taking a survey will be used for the study. The survey will be given to 18 teachers at the local high school and when they have returned the surveys to the researcher the information from the yes/no questions will be coded. The rest of the information from the open-ended questions will be examined for similarities and other important issues that may help the researcher to determine the seriousness of the problem that was addressed. It is important to address this problem because there are many students who will need the technology information and understanding when their either go to college or find a job that they want.

If they do not learn about technology early on, they will be at a serious disadvantage in the future which could hurt their prospects for success. This would be very unfortunate, but there is also only so much that teachers and educators can do if they do not have the resources that they need to offer technology to their students. This could come from a lack of educators that are properly trained, a lack of funds, or a lack of equipment, among other things. This problem must be addressed, however, and once it has been addressed there are different solutions that can be proposed in order to attempt to correct it.