Ignition for Education

In a previous post, I commented on the tendency of educators to say that an approach is “research based.” I wrote, “I’ve come to suspect that [the research] may sometimes be of low quality or exist only in rumor.” I committed to not believing such claims until I had conducted my own systematic check on the research.

I then detailed my systematic check on the research into interactive versus passive pedagogies, using Google Scholar. I concluded, with no surprise, that the preference for interactive pedagogies is indeed very soundly research based.

I’ve just (October 9, 2024) attempted to conduct a similar check on the research basis of the preference for group work over individual or whole class activities. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of educators say that this is “research based.” They don’t appear to be right.

In Google Scholar, I entered the following search terms.

• “K-12 education effectiveness of group work” <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C10&q=K-12+education+effectiveness+of+group+work&btnG=>
• “group learning effectiveness K-12” <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C10&q=group+learning+effectiveness+K-12&btnG=>
• “effectiveness group activities K12” <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=effectiveness+group+activities+K-12&hl=en&as_sdt=0,10>
• “K-12 education group work academic success” <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C10&q=K-12+education+group+work+academic+success&btnG=>

Of the first fifty results in each search, discounting those that focused on online or blended learning, only one paper, published in 2011, addressed the matter in question. It was based on a quantitative study in which middle school students used either a small group problem-based learning approach or a lecture and discussion approach[1]. It found the former to be superior. However, this hardly amounts to a mass of empirical evidence in favor of group work.

Other papers addressed flipped classrooms, but that is not exactly the same thing.

I may look for opportunities to conduct some research of my own into the effectiveness of small group activities, including, as I am an English teacher, small group discussions of literature. For now, I will continue to use a mixture of direct instruction, discussion, and whole class, small group, paired, and individual activities.

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[1] Wirkala, C., & Kuhn, D. “Problem-Based Learning in K–12 Education: Is it Effective and How Does it Achieve its Effects?” American Educational Research Journal, 48(5), 2011. 1157-1186.