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An assessment of elementary administrators' and teachers' concerns about cooperative learning
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the Stages of Concern of southeastern Massachusetts elementary administrators and regular classroom teachers toward cooperative learning. Of the eighty school districts surveyed, thirty-four systems indicated that they were using cooperative learning. A stratified random sample of twenty-four school districts was selected using the Massachusetts Department of Education's kind of community classification system. Forty-six elementary administrators and eighty-five classroom teachers participated. Two data-gathered instruments were used: one to measure the seven hypothesized Stages of Concern about cooperative learning and one to gather personal information. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was used to gain insight into concerns of elementary administrators and teachers about cooperative learning. The dependent variables in the study were scores assigned by administrators and teachers to each of the 35 items on the SoCQ. Independent variables came from the Demographic Survey Instrument and included: role, gender, training, age, education level, and experience. Eleven null hypotheses were developed using a.05 level of significance criterion. Five hypotheses of difference were constructed around role, gender, and training. The t-test was used to evaluate each hypothesis and all five null hypotheses were accepted. Six hypotheses of association were built using age, education level, and experience. The Pearson r test was used to make a decision regarding each hypothesis and all six null hypotheses were accepted. Descriptive analysis revealed that 57.5% of the school districts have not initiated cooperative learning programs at the elementary school level. Systems using cooperative learning revealed that more than 70% of the respondents' highest concern scores were located at the early development Stages. The following conclusions were reached: (1) some students are being deprived of cooperative learning, (2) the majority of administrators and teachers have immature concerns about cooperative learning, and (3) leaders need to initiate actions or events that will resolve professional concerns about cooperative learning.
Subject Area
Elementary education|Curriculum development
Recommended Citation
Fay, William M, "An assessment of elementary administrators' and teachers' concerns about cooperative learning" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9207394.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9207394