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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2008  > June  >
Research: Science and Education
Chemical Education Research
An Assessment of the Effect of Collaborative Groups on Students' Problem-Solving Strategies and Abilities
Melanie M. Cooper, Charles T. Cox, Jr., Minory Nammouz, and Edward Case
Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-9703

Ronald Stevens
UCLA Interactive MultiMedia Exercises Project, Culver City, CA 90230

Cover
June 2008
Vol. 85 No. 6
p. 866
Abstract
Improving students' problem-solving skills is a major goal for most science educators. While a large body of research on problem solving exists, assessment of meaningful problem solving is very difficult, particularly for courses with large numbers of students in which one-on-one interactions are not feasible. We have used a suite of software tools and pedagogies of small-group student collaborations to assess both student problem-solving strategies and student abilities as they change over time. This paper reports the use of these tools to probe the effectiveness of using small group interaction to improve problem solving.
Supplement
Detailed description of the experimental methods used in this study; Discussion of the data modeling using artificial neural nets (ANN), hidden Markov modeling (HMM), and item response theory (IRT)
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Citation
Cooper, Melanie M.; Cox, Charles T., Jr.; Nammouz, Minory; Case, Edward; Stevens, Ronald. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85, 866.
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Keywords
Chemical Education Research; Collaborative / Cooperative Learning; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Learning Theories; Problem Solving / Decision Making; Student-Centered Learning; Testing / Assessment
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
5/5/2008
5/7/2008
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