Identifier

etd-07062015-170213

Degree

Master of Natural Sciences (MNS)

Department

Natural Sciences (Interdepartmental Program)

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

To combat the obstacles that students experience in chemistry, two cooperative learning strategies, Rally Coach and Teams-Games-Tournaments, were implemented in five chemistry courses at East Ascension High School. Rally Coach called for two students to work as a pair and peer tutor to successfully complete practice problems for each lesson. Teams-Games-Tournaments required students to work in groups of four to complete practice problems and compete for team points as a review. Every student experienced both learning strategies. A comparison was made to see which cooperative learning strategy better helped student performance, including comparisons of effects on different student demographics and question types. To compare the strategies, normalized learning gains were calculated using pre- and post-test exams for each experimental unit. Rally Coach was found to significantly outperform Teams-Games-Tournaments in one of the units. Statistically significant differences also existed in comparisons of students with free or reduced lunch, different genders and grade levels, as well as a difference in performance on multiple choice questions. Student surveys indicated more enjoyment with Teams-Games-Tournaments but both strategies led to positive results.

Date

2015

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Siebenaller, Joespeh

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.1684

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