Fighting the Freeloader Effect: Cooperative Learning, Attitude, and Achievement in a Jesuit Secondary Math Classroom
- Format:
- Dissertation
- Year:
- 2007
- University:
- University of San Francisco
- University URL:
- Thesis type:
- Doctoral Dissertation
- Place published:
- San Francisco
- Language:
- Abstract:
Jesuit schools have a long-standing and well-deserved reputation for training the leaders of tomorrow. Today, that means expertise in math, technology and the sciences. In math, this requires access to and success in Calculus. Kaput (1997) and McNeil (2004), though, have described calculus as a gatehouse class which historically has limited access to higher fields. Research by Triesman (1986), Johnson and Johnson (1989), and others indicated that cooperative learning might help solve this problem. There are three interrelated problems with using cooperative learning as a solution to calculus-access in a Jesuit college preparatory school. First, cooperative learning, when not implemented properly, can lead to freeloading, which, in turn, can lead to resentment on the part of the harder-working and more capable student. Second, the amount of research that pertains to cooperative learning in pre-calculus is limited and none is in an Ignatian context. Finally, cooperative learning is student centered where Ignatian pedagogy and cura personalis are centered on the relationship between the individual student and teacher. In this study, 110 pre-calculus at a coeducational Jesuit college preparatory in California responded to 60 Likert-type statements about attitudes toward their peers, teachers, cooperative learning, and Ignatian education. Over a three-month period, half learned in a cooperative setting and half in a traditional setting. At the end of that time, they re-responded to the statements and rated themselves and each other as to how much freeloading occurred. An achievement test on knowledge acquisition of introductory Calculus topics was also administered. There was no significant difference between the control and treatment groups on achievement, and there were no significant differences between most pretest and posttest attitudes. The subjects' attitudes toward their teachers did not change nor did their attitudes toward cooperation or competition. However, the treatment group's preference for individual learning did grow stronger, freeloading did occur, and the posttest showed a significant decline in the sense of personal and academic support from peers.
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