Course: Development of Communicative Competence: Written Skills C1

Activity: Guided Activity 1 (sample report)

Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1
2. Methodology .............................................................................................................................2
3. Results and discussion ...............................................................................................................2
4. Conclusions and further research ..............................................................................................3
References ........................................................................................................................................4
Appendix 1. Pre-test example ...........................................................................................................5

The impact of the introduction of cooperative learning on a traditional

classroom

Abstract
Although new methodologies have been designed in the last decades, it is sometimes difficult
to introduce them in the classroom, since students are used to traditional dynamics. Thus,
this paper studies the impact that the introduction of a different methodology, cooperative
learning, may have on 6-8 year-old students’ academic performance. Two groups were tested
with end-of-term exams, after one of them had changed to cooperative learning while the
other one followed a traditional methodology. The results showed that students who had
been introduced cooperative dynamics outperformed those in the other group, with
especially higher results in speaking and listening activities. It can be therefore concluded that
the introduction of cooperative learning is not only free from any detrimental effects on
students’ grades but it improves their learning in comparison with traditional methodologies.

1. Introduction

During the past 20 years, a change in education has been observed. New methodologies have been
designed, in which students are more likely to participate actively in the classroom and collaborate
with other students, instead of using the traditional teacher-student dynamics. One of these
methodologies is cooperative learning, which has actually received a lot of attention (Howards 2003;
Blackwell 2005; McKenzie 2009; Carroll 20010; Smith 2013, among others).
Cooperative learning is based on [insert definition here] [insert reference for definition
here]. This methodology has become so popular because of all the positive implications and
outcomes it has. For example, cooperative learning has been shown to be a powerful tool to
increase motivation. Smith and Crawn (2008) revealed that [insert whatever they revealed in their
study here]. [Insert all those reasons here + references for each of them].

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 However, despite all these benefits, some teachers are reluctant to update their
methodologies because they think students are too used to old dynamics that they will not be able
to adapt successfully to a different one, since little attention has been paid to the process of
adaptation from traditional methodologies to cooperative learning dynamics. Thus, the purpose of
the present study is to see whether the change of methodology might have a negative impact on
students’ academic results.
The remainder of the paper is organised as follows: section 2 presents the participants who
took part in the study, together with the materials used to measure their academic performance and
perspectives on their progress; section 3 displays the results obtained in the tests taken and
discusses their implications; finally, section 4 summarises the most important conclusions drawn
from the results and sets some guidelines for future research.

2. Methodology

This study analyses the impact of a new methodology on students’ academic results; more
specifically, the introduction of cooperative learning in a traditional classroom. In order to do so,
two groups of the second course of Primary education (6-8 years old) were selected. They were part
of a private school in Toledo, Spain. Each group consisted of 20-25 students, with boys and girls
distributed almost evenly. All of them shared the same mother tongue (Spanish), and most of them
had an A2.1 English level, with some cases of A2.2. None of them had had any previous experiences
with cooperative learning before, and the same teacher was in charge of the English classes in both
groups.
A pre-test was used to measure the children’s initial level at the beginning of the course, in
September, in order to measure the progress along the study and check that their level was actually
A2.1 and A2.2 (see Appendix 1 for a pre-test example). Two additional tests were used to measure
students’ academic performance, one after the first term (December) and another one after the
second term (March) (see Appendix 2 for a test example). All these tests addressed the four skills,
namely reading, writing, speaking and listening, with similar questions, so that any differences in the
results could not be due to an easier or more complex way to ask for the information.
In addition, a questionnaire was administered to the children and their families to know
about students’ study habits and their feelings regarding the classes (see Appendix 3 for a
questionnaire example).
As said above, the pre-test was taken at the beginning of the academic year, while the term
tests were taken after the first and second terms, respectively. All the children were taught
following the traditional methodology during the first term (see Appendix 4 for a traditional lesson
plan example). In the second term, students in group A (the control group), continue with that
methodology, while group B (experimental group) was introduced the new dynamics: cooperative
learning (see Appendix 5 for a cooperative learning lesson plan). After the test taken when the
second term was over, the questionnaire was delivered and collected after a week.

3. Results and discussion

This study addressed the important issue of the effects of changing the course methodology during
the academic year, tested in a private school in a Spanish city, more specifically, whether introducing

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cooperative learning when students are used to traditional dynamics can be detrimental to their
academic performance.
Figure 1 shows the results for the pre-test carried out at the beginning of the course.

[Figure 1]
Figure 1. Results of pre-test

It can be seen that students share a similar level in both groups. As abovementioned, most of them
have an A2.1. level, with some exceptions in A2.2. in writing and reading tasks.
Figure 2 displays the data obtained for the first end-of-term exam, before which both groups
had followed a traditional methodology.

[Figure 2]
Figure 2. Results of first end-of-term exam

Similarly to the pre-test results, students have equivalent grades (mean grade of 6.7/10 points). This
means that all students have progressed at a comparable pace.
Figure 3 illustrates the results for the second end-of-term exam, before which group A had
continued with a traditional methodology, while group B had been introduced cooperative learning
activities.

[Figure 3]
Figure 3. Results of second end-of-term exam

As it is shown, students in group B (cooperative learning group) outperformed group A (traditional

methodology group), since they obtained a mean of 7.1 and 6.5, respectively. This points to the fact
that students were not only not affected negatively by the change in their classroom dynamics, but
they managed to acquired new knowledge more successfully
Finally, Figure 4 introduces the data collected from the questionnaires, where questions
about students’ study habits were asked.

[Figure 4]
Figure 4. Results of second questionnaire

As can be seen in the figure, students in the cooperative learning classroom devoted the same
amount of hours at home to the English subject as students in the traditional one, so the increase in
group B performance is not due to additional activities or a higher work load
The improvement in group B’s results can be due to a higher engagement in the classroom,
as the answers to questions 6 and 7 in the questionnaire may indicate. Another possible explanation
is the type of tasks done in the classroom: while group A (traditional) tasks focused mainly on
reading and writing activities, with little attention to speaking and listening beyond the teacher’s
speech and teacher-student interaction, group B (cooperative learning) tasks promoted speaking as
a means for students to work with other classmates.

4. Conclusions and further research

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Cooperative learning has been shown to be a very useful tool in teaching, due to the number of
positive aspects if addresses and promotes. However, the introduction of this methodology finds
some resistance in traditional classrooms, where students are used to a different kind of activities.
For this reason, this paper analysed the impact of the introduction of this methodology in a Spanish
classroom, and compared students’ academic performance to another group in which traditional
learning was followed.
The results of the end-of-term taken showed that students who had followed the new
methodology did not see their grades lowered. In fact, they outperformed students in the traditional
classroom, especially in their speaking and listening tasks. This is probably due to the engaging
nature of cooperative learning activities and the higher attention this methodology pays on peer
work and speaking as a way to interact with other students.
Nevertheless, it must be said that different results could be obtained if older students were
analysed, since 7 year-old children are not as used to a methodology as 17 year-old students.
Therefore, further study is needed in methodology changes in older students to see whether their
adaptive capabilities are progressively lost or the introduction of cooperative learning is adequate at
all age ranges.

References

Blackwell, M. (2005)…
Carroll, J. (2010)…
Howards, H.P. (2003)…
McKenzie, L. (2009)…
Smith, J. (2013)…
Smith, J. and Crawn, G. (2008)…

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Appendix 1. Pre-test example
…
(rest of appendices. new page or each).

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