Eric.ed.gov – The Relationship of Peer Collaboration on Third Grade Student Math Performance.

The purpose of this study was to provide statistical evidence to demonstrate that peer collaboration on math homework increases academic performance in math. This study examined the benefits of peer collaboration on two unit tests on multiplication. It compared the results of students who worked collaboratively on homework and those who did not. The null hypotheses in the study stated that there was no significant differences in performance between children who work collaboratively in small groups and those who work individually at the .05 level of significance. The entire study took six weeks. The subjects of this study included eighteen eight and nine year old third graders. The class included one child with a learning disability and five talented and gifted students showing various levels of intelligence in the class. Seventeen of these students were recommended from past teachers to learn at third-grade level mathematics and one student was recommended at a second grade level. The control group for this research project consisted of children who worked on their math homework alone. The experimental group consisted of children who worked in collaborative groups of three or four students. The researcher used a paired sample t-test, since all students experienced the experimental factor and control factor, to evaluate the unit test scores of students who worked collaboratively and those who did not. This test was given at the end of each chapter on multiplication. The researcher used the Scott-Foresman-Addison Wesley Assessment Sourcebook for the tests. Based on these results from six weeks of testing and study, the researcher retains the hypothesis there was no significant difference in academic success between students who worked collaboratively and those who did not. The results from this research were beneficial to the ongoing research of peer collaboration in the classroom. Peer collaboration can be effective when used to as one teaching tool instead of the only teaching tool. While peer collaboration is useful to some students, it is not for all students. Therefore, peer collaboration did not show significance at the .05 level in this study. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/YDS)