Group work and computers: type of task and children's performance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Group work and computers

T2 - type of task and children's performance

AU - Kutnick, Peter Jay

AU - Jackson, Anita

PY - 1996

Y1 - 1996

N2 - In the majority of British primary schools, children use the computer in groups of two or three. This is partly due to the lack of resources, that is, most classrooms still only have one or two computers to share between around 30 children. Groupwork on computers is also justified for pedagogic reasons. Previous research comparing children working in groups or alone has revealed an advantage for children working in groups although the work undertaken has generally been problem solving tasks. This investigation examined the performance of pairs and individual &year old children on a drill and practice program using a pretest, intervention, post-test design. In comparison to the problem solving evidence, individuals were found to have a significant advantage over pairs during the computer-based task.

AB - In the majority of British primary schools, children use the computer in groups of two or three. This is partly due to the lack of resources, that is, most classrooms still only have one or two computers to share between around 30 children. Groupwork on computers is also justified for pedagogic reasons. Previous research comparing children working in groups or alone has revealed an advantage for children working in groups although the work undertaken has generally been problem solving tasks. This investigation examined the performance of pairs and individual &year old children on a drill and practice program using a pretest, intervention, post-test design. In comparison to the problem solving evidence, individuals were found to have a significant advantage over pairs during the computer-based task.

M3 - Article

VL - 12

SP - 162

EP - 171

JO - the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning

JF - the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning

ER -