Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

O processo de ensino e aprendizagem da disciplina Matemática tem sido desafiador, principalmente no Ensino Fundamental I, no qual os conceitos são adquiridos pelos alunos superficialmente, acarretando baixos índices de aproveitamento e desmotivação constante em relação à área de ciências exatas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar o desenvolvimento de habilidades sociais utilizando-se estratégias de gerenciamento da sala de aula por meio da aprendizagem cooperativa com conteúdo de geometria, aplicada aos alunos de um quinto ano do ensino fundamental do interior de São Paulo. Como proposta facilitadora e motivadora no processo de ensino e aprendizagem dessa disciplina, para a aplicação das atividades utilizou-se de uma sequência didática englobando situações-problema, desafios e História da Matemática, asserções constantes nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais. A pesquisa, estruturada de acordo com os procedimentos da Engenharia Didática, teve caráter quanti-qualitativo e para a coleta do corpus lançou-se mão de instrumentos como questionário, avaliação diagnóstica inicial e final, registros e entrevista, os quais foram tratados sob a ótica da Análise de Conteúdo. Os resultados desse estudo mostram a evolução dos alunos em relação ao objeto matemático estudado, além do desenvolvimento de habilidades sociais entre eles, remetendo que o uso de uma sequência didática por meio da aprendizagem cooperativa promove o aprendizado matemático e é uma possibilidade que contribui para a formação de alunos mais ativos e reflexivos. / The process of teaching and learning mathematics course has been challenging, especially in elementary school, in which the concepts are acquired by students superficially, causing low levels of use and constant motivation to the area of exact sciences. The research aimed to investigate the development of social skills using classroom management strategies by cooperative learning with geometry content, applied to students in a fifth year of elementary school in the interior of São Paulo. As a facilitator and motivator proposal in the teaching and learning of this discipline for the implementation of the activities we used a didactic sequence encompassing problem situations, challenges and history of mathematics, the assertions in the National Curriculum Standards. The research, structured in accordance with the procedures of Didactic Engineering, had quantitative and qualitative character and the collection of the corpus was released hand tools such as questionnaire, initial diagnostic evaluation and final records and interviews, which were treated from the perspective Content Analysis. The results of this study show the progress of students in relation to the mathematical object studied, and the development of social skills among them, referring to the use of a didactic sequence by cooperative learning promotes math learning and is a possibility that contributes to training more active and reflective students.

Frente a um mundo globalizado e em profundas transformações, as organizações estão se adaptando a novas situações que exigem velocidade e agilidade, sendo que o trabalho em equipe é uma das principais configurações funcionais que permitem tal adaptação. Diante deste contexto, a educação deve preparar-se para atender tal exigência, privilegiando o trabalho em equipe. Assim, este trabalho propõe a utilização de técnicas de aprendizagem cooperativa em sala de aula como ferramentas educacionais que atendem tais exigências. / Facing up to globalization and a deeply changing world, the organizations have to quickly adapt to new situations in which speed and agility are absolutely necessary, and teamwork is one of the structural configurations that permits this. Due to these changes, the educational field must prepare itself for this new scenario and has to emphasize teamwork in the classroom. This study proposes the Cooperative Learning techniques as important educational tools to be used to prepare the student to his future professional life.

Despite being expected by administrators to use cooperative learning regularly and effectively in their instructional practices, less than one third of high school teachers in the targeted U.S. public school district implemented the practices above a proficient level, according to district data. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the motivation, strategies, and practices of a representative group of teachers at the high school who were rated highly effective on their 2016-2017 annual summative evaluation in cooperative learning. The research questions concerned the motivation of these teachers to include cooperative learning practices in their classrooms. Two additional research questions focused on the teachers' planning, implementation, and assessment of students and the challenges they encounter while employing cooperative learning practices. The participants included 10 teachers rated highly effective who were selected through homogeneous, purposeful sampling. Qualitative data were collected through semistructured interviews and document reviews of lesson plans and resources. Coding and thematic analysis were used to examine and report that data. Participants revealed concerns regarding the time involved in planning and implementing cooperative learning along with the difficulties of group composition and student assessment during the process. Based on the study results, a professional development series was designed to provide additional training and to establish a district wide definition of cooperative learning. This project study may facilitate positive social change by encouraging and supporting teachers as they better prepare students to overcome the challenges of collaboration and teamwork.

The purpose of this study was to measure the quantity, quality, and types of collaboration amongst K-12 music teachers in the state of Iowa. Survey responses (N = 97) were analyzed and grouped according to teacher characteristics. This sample of music educators reported the least collaboration on post-instruction, evaluative activity, such as reviewing assessments, data collection and analysis, and peer-observation. Respondents rated other parts of the collaborative process, such as group dialogue, decision-making, and action-taking, more highly. Teachers with a higher level of education reported more collaboration than less educated counterparts, while band teachers reported lower levels of collaboration quality compared to their choral and general music peers. Respondents also indicated that collaboration tends to increase with job continuity, but declines somewhat after teachers reach 25 years in the same school. Middle school teachers indicated the highest levels of collaboration, while K-12 teachers reported the lowest. Further, those teaching in larger schools recorded higher levels of collaboration than their smaller school colleagues. These results suggest that this group of K-12 music teachers in Iowa engage in moderate levels of collaborative activity overall and moderate to low levels of evaluative activity. Demographic results also reveal strengths and weaknesses of various subgroups’ collaborative habits. Researchers have found that high quality teacher collaboration improves teaching and learning outcomes. These results have implications for administrators providing professional development, preservice teacher educators, professional organizations, and current practitioners in the field who desire to implement more and higher quality collaboration for the purpose of instructional improvement.

The dominant approach to the study of economics at secondary school level in the Maldives is teacher-centred methods based on behaviourist views of teaching and learning. Despite considerable research on the benefits of cooperative learning in economic education at the post-secondary level, very limited research has been conducted in secondary school classrooms in order to find ways of improving teaching and learning of economics. The purpose of this study was to enhance the teaching and learning of economics at secondary schools in the Maldives by trialing a cooperative learning model to enhance economics teachers' awareness of the impact that cooperative learning might have on student learning. This study explored a cooperative learning approach to teaching and learning economics in secondary schools and investigated teachers' and students' perceptions of cooperative learning. Some elements of both ethnographic and grounded theory methodologies were employed and specific data collection methods included workshops, classroom observations, interviews, video tapes and student questionnaires. Nine teachers and 232 students were involved in this study. The research was conducted in three stages (pre-intervention, workshops to train the participants, and post-intervention) over a period of three months in three selected schools in Male', the Maldives. Four research themes were derived from the analysis of both pre and post intervention data. These themes were teaching issues, learning issues, cooperative learning implementing issues, and students' and teachers' reactions to cooperative learning. In the pre-intervention phase, the teachers taught in a traditional manner, but after the intervention they incorporated elements of cooperative learning method to teach economics in their selected classes. The overall findings showed a considerable change in teachers' and students' attitudes and perceptions about traditional teacher-centred methods towards more student-centred methods of cooperative learning. It was evident that both teachers and students perceived cooperative learning to be an effective method of teaching. For example, the findings revealed that both teachers and students understood and could see the benefits that cooperative learning offered to the teaching and learning of economics. The students indicated that they liked working in groups and appreciated getting help from other students. In addition, the results revealed that students' interactions and involvement in classroom activities, as well as interest and motivation to learn economics, increased during the implementation of the cooperative learning model. Furthermore, this study found a mismatch between home and the traditional teacher-centred school culture in the Maldives. In contrast, the findings suggest that the principles of cooperative learning match well with the cultural values of Maldivian society. Consequently, a revised model of cooperative learning is presented that includes the aspects of culture. Jordan (1985) argued that educational practices must match with the children's culture (p. 110) and thus culturally responsive teaching can help to minimise confusion and promote an academic community of learners that enables students to be more successful learners (Gay, 2000). This study suggests that training teachers and students for cooperative learning is salient for effective implementation of cooperative learning for a positive influence on students' learning and teachers' pedagogy. However, further research should be conducted to examine other aspects of teaching and learning which may also enhance this relationship.

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the implementation of Cooperative Learning (CL) activities, incorporating the insights given by Howard Gardner’ (1993) theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and the notion of Whole Language Approach (WLA) in college EFL classrooms will have a positive effect on students’ language proficiency and attitude. A quasi-experimental study was developed. The site of this study was in an EFL classroom in a Taiwanese College. The subjects were from the researcher’s three English classes at Chung Hwa Institute of Medical Technology during one semester. Many learning activities based on Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences were used while a Cooperative Learning approach was practiced. The data for this study was collected from three sources. One was from the subjects’ questionnaires on attitudes and on motivation, regarding Cooperative Learning and Multiple Intelligences. Another was from student interviews. The third was from the students’ test scores on their language proficiency tests. The results of the study showed that the experimental group that was taught using the ideas based on CL and MI outperformed the group based on CL, and the control group, on the Simulate English General Proficiency tests for the four language skills. Though there were no significant differences among them within this short-time study, the motivation in learning English was enhanced a great deal for the experimental group that was taught using the CL and MI ideas. Based upon the insight gained from this study, CL, MI, WLA and Language Learning Center were thus recommended to be integrated into the Junior College English curriculum. Pedagogical implications for the application of CL and MI in an EFL classroom were developed. Above all, suggestions for teacher development in CL and MI were proposed. Finally, suggestions for future research have been recommended.

The vision of K-12 standards-based mathematics reform embraces a greater emphasis on students’ ability to communicate their understandings of mathematics by utilizing adaptive reasoning (i.e., reflection, explanation, and justification of thinking) through mathematics discourse. However, recent studies suggest that many students lack the socio-cognitive capacity needed to succeed in learner-centered, discussion-intensive mathematics classrooms. A multiple case study design was used to examine the nature of participation in mathematics discourse among two low- and two high-performing sixth grade female students while solving rational number tasks in a standards-based classroom. Data collected through classroom observations, student interviews, and student work samples were analyzed via a multiple-cycle coding process that yielded several important within-case and cross-case findings. Within-case analyses revealed that (a) students’ access to participation was mediated by the degree of space they were afforded and how they attempted to utilize that space, as well as the meaning they were able to construct through providing and listening to explanations; and (b) participation was greatly influenced by peer interactional tendencies that either promoted or impeded productive contributions, as well as teacher interactions that helped to offset some of the problems related to unequal access to participation. Cross-case findings suggested that (a) students’ willingness to contribute to task discussions was related to their goal orientations as well as the degree of social risk perceived with providing incorrect solutions before their peers; and (b) differences between the kinds of peer and teacher interactions that low- and high-performers engaged in were directly related to the types of challenges they faced during discussion of these tasks. An important implication of this study’s findings is that the provision of space and meaning for students to participate equitably in rich mathematics discourse depends greatly on teacher interaction, especially in small-group instructional settings where unequal peer status often leads to unequal peer interactions. Research and practice should continue to focus on addressing ways in which students can learn how to help provide adequate space and meaning in small-group mathematics discussion contexts so that all students involved are allowed access to an optimally rich learning experience.

Children in Taiwan start their English classes in grade three. As they progress through the grades, they generally do not demonstrate high English proficiency. In addition, they also gradually lose their interest in learning English (“Education Minister,” 2009). To respond to the problem of achievement and motivation related to learning English, the Picture Word Inductive Model and Cooperative Learning were integrated as an alternative approach to the current instructional method in order to more effectively improve the Taiwanese elementary learners’ English literacy and highly motivate their interest in acquiring a foreign language. The focus of this study was to discover the participating teachers’ and students’ perspectives toward this new teaching approach and to understand the difficulties they encounter during the process of initiating and implementing an educational change. This eleven-month qualitative study involved three elementary English teachers and their 71 students from grades 4, 5 and 6 as participants. The data were collected through field notes from onsite classroom observations, teachers’ weekly reflective journals, in-class video recordings, and transcripts of teachers’ monthly meetings and personal interviews with the participants. Although one teacher and her students had to withdraw from the study because of intense pressure from school authorities and parents, the results of this study indicate that the remaining teachers and students highly recommended implementing this alternative approach in English classes and believed that this new way of teaching not only helped students become more autonomous and responsible for their own learning, but also provided them with more opportunities to interact with their peers. Although having doubts about this new approach at the beginning of the study and encountering difficulties during the process of implementation, the two teachers reported that their students’ English vocabulary had increased and they were able to compose meaningful English paragraphs as a result of this non-traditional strategy. The students also revealed that their motivation toward learning English had improved. Furthermore, the results show that support from school authorities and parents is essential to the initiation and maintenance of a change in education settings.

Children in Taiwan start their English classes in grade three. As they progress through the grades, they generally do not demonstrate high English proficiency. In addition, they also gradually lose their interest in learning English (“Education Minister,” 2009). To respond to the problem of achievement and motivation related to learning English, the Picture Word Inductive Model and Cooperative Learning were integrated as an alternative approach to the current instructional method in order to more effectively improve the Taiwanese elementary learners’ English literacy and highly motivate their interest in acquiring a foreign language. The focus of this study was to discover the participating teachers’ and students’ perspectives toward this new teaching approach and to understand the difficulties they encounter during the process of initiating and implementing an educational change. This eleven-month qualitative study involved three elementary English teachers and their 71 students from grades 4, 5 and 6 as participants. The data were collected through field notes from onsite classroom observations, teachers’ weekly reflective journals, in-class video recordings, and transcripts of teachers’ monthly meetings and personal interviews with the participants. Although one teacher and her students had to withdraw from the study because of intense pressure from school authorities and parents, the results of this study indicate that the remaining teachers and students highly recommended implementing this alternative approach in English classes and believed that this new way of teaching not only helped students become more autonomous and responsible for their own learning, but also provided them with more opportunities to interact with their peers. Although having doubts about this new approach at the beginning of the study and encountering difficulties during the process of implementation, the two teachers reported that their students’ English vocabulary had increased and they were able to compose meaningful English paragraphs as a result of this non-traditional strategy. The students also revealed that their motivation toward learning English had improved. Furthermore, the results show that support from school authorities and parents is essential to the initiation and maintenance of a change in education settings.