Abstract
Although many instructors use collaborative group work as one tool in their repertoire, much research remains to be done on how learning occurs within collaborative learning environments. The present study contributes to this goal by finding that giving explanations during collaborative group work contributes to learning on single-answer group tasks, while task-related participation contributes to learning on variable-answer group tasks. Furthermore, the present study found that European–American students showed higher achievement than African–American students after working on a single-answer group task. Importantly, this race-based difference in achievement was tied to a race-based difference in giving explanations. These results reveal modest, but important support for the hypothesis that variable-answer group tasks provide a more equitable environment for participation than single-answer group tasks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allport, Gordon W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Cambridge, MA, Addison-Wesley.
Azmitia, Margarita & Montgomery, Ryan (1993). Friendship, transactive dialogues, and the development of scientific reasoning. Social Development, 2, 202-220.
Berger, Joseph, Rosenholtz, Susan J., & Zelditch, Morris (1980). Status organizing processes. Annual Review of Sociology, 6, 479–508.
Brabeck, Mary M., & Wood, Phillip K. (1990). Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence for differences between well-structured and variable-answer problem-solving abilities. In M.L. Commons, L.C.A. Kohlberg, F.A. Richards, T.A. Grotzer & J.D. Sinnott (Eds.), Adult development, Vol.2: Models and methods in the study of adolescent and adult thought. New York: Praeger Publishers, pp. 133–146.
Carey, Deborah A., Fennema, Elizabeth, Carpenter, Thomas P., & Franke, Megan L. (1995). Equity and mathematics education. In W.G. Secada, E. Fennema & L.B. Adajian (Eds.), New directions for equity in mathematics education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 93–125.
Catsambis, Sophia (1994). The path to math: Gender and racial-ethnic differences in mathematics participation from middle school to high school. Sociology of Education, 67, 199–215.
Chizhik, Alexander W. (1999). Can students work together equitably? An analysis of task effects in collaborative group work. Social Psychology of Education, 3, 63–79.
Cohen, Elizabeth G. (1982). Expectation states and interracial interaction in school settings. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 209–235.
Cohen, Elizabeth G. (1994). Restructuring the classroom: conditions for productive small groups. Review of Educational Research, 64, 1–35.
Cohen, Elizabeth G. (1997). Equity in heterogeneous classrooms: A challenge for teachers and sociologists. In E.G. Cohen & R.A. Lotan (Eds.), Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms: Sociological theory in action. New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 3–14.
Cohen, Elizabeth G., & Lotan, Rachel A. (1995). Producing equal-status interaction in the heterogeneous classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 99–120.
Cohen, Elizabeth G., Lotan, Rachel A., Scarloss, Beth A. & Arellano, Adele R. (1999). Complex instruction: Equity in cooperative learning classrooms. Theory into Practice, 38, 80–86.
Damon, William (1984). Peer education: the untapped potential. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 5, 331–343.
Dembo, Myron H. & McAuliffe, Timothy J. (1987). Effects of perceived ability and grade status on social interaction and influence in cooperative groups. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 415–423.
Fennema, Elizabeth, Carpenter, Thomas, Jacobs, Victoria, Franke, Megan & Levi, Linda (1998). A longitudinal study of gender differences in young children's mathematical thinking. Educational Researcher, 27(5), 6–11.
Fordham, Signithia (1993). The color of strangers, the color of friends: the play of ethnicity in school and community (Review of A. Peshkin's book). Teachers College Record, 95, 287–291.
Fuchs, Douglas, Fuchs, Lynn, Mathes, Patricia, & Simmons, Deborah (1997). Peer-assisted learning strategies: Making classrooms more responsive to diversity. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 174–206.
Fuchs, Lynn, Fuchs, Douglas, Hamlett, Carol, & Karns, Kathy (1998). High-achieving students' interactions and performance of complex mathematical tasks as a function of homogeneous and heterogeneous pairings. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 227–267.
Herman, Joan, Aschbacher, Pamela, & Winters, Lynn (1992). A practical guide to alternative assessment. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Kimble, Charles E., Yoshikawa, Joyce C., & Zehr, David H. (1981). Vocal and verbal assertiveness in same-sex and mixed-sex groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 1047–1054.
King, Alison (1994). Guiding knowledge construction in the classroom: Effects of teaching children how to question and explain. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 338–368.
King, Leonard H. (1993). High and low achievers' perceptions and cooperative learning in two small groups. The Elementary School Journal, 93, 399–416.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1996). 'Your blues ain't like mine': Keeping issues of race and racism on the multicultural agenda. Theory into Practice, 35, 248–255.
Lockheed, Marlaine E., Harris, Abigail M., & Nemceff, William P. (1983). Sex and social influence: Does sex function as a status characteristic in mixed-sex groups of children? Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 877–888.
Lotan, Rachel A. (1997). Principles of a principled curriculum. In E.G. Cohen & R.A. Lotan (Eds.), Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms: Sociological theory in action. NewYork: Teachers College Press, pp. 105–116.
Montagu, Ashley (1997). Man's most dangerous myth: The fallacy of race (6th edn). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
Oakes, Jeannie (1990). Opportunities, achievement, and choice: Women and minority students in science and mathematics. In C.B. Cazden (Ed.), Review of research in education. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association, pp. 153–222.
Oakes, Jeannie & Lipton, Martin (1999). Teaching to change the world. Boston: McGraw-Hill College.
Ogbu, John (1994). Racial stratification and education in the United States: Why inequality persists. Teachers College Record, 96, 264–298.
Qin, Zhining, Johnson, David W., & Johnson, Roger T. (1995). Cooperative versus competitive efforts and problem solving. Review of Educational Research, 65, 129–143.
Rosenholtz, Susan J. & Cohen, Elizabeth G. (1983). Back to basics and the desegregated school. The Elementary School Journal, 83, 515–527.
Sacks, Harvey, Schegloff, Emanuel, & Jefferson, Gail (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50, 696–735.
Secada, Walter G. (1992). Race, ethnicity, social class, language, and achievement in mathematics.In D.A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning: A project of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., pp. 623–660.
Seegers, Gerard & Boekaerts, Monique (1996). Gender-related differences in self-referenced cognitions in relation to mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 27, 215–240.
Slavin, Robert E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Voss, James F. & Post, Timothy A. (1988). On the solving of variable-answer problems. In M.T.H. Chi, R. Glaser & M.J. Farr (Eds.), The nature of expertise. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp.261–285.
Vygotsky, Lev S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wagner, David & Berger, Joseph (1993). Status characteristics theory: The growth of a program. In J. Berger & M. Zelditch (Eds.), Theoretical research programs: Studies in the growth of theory. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 23–63.
Webb, Noreen M. (1991). Task-related verbal interaction and mathematics learning in small groups. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 22, 366–389.
Webb, Noreen M., Nemer, Kariane M., Chizhik, Alexander W., & Sugrue, Brenda (1998). Equity issues in collaborative group assessment: Group composition and performance. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 607–651.
Webb, Noreen M. & Palincsar, Annemarie S. (1996). Group processes in the classroom. In D. Berliner & R. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of research in educational psychology. London: Prentice Hall, pp. 841–873.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chizhik, A.W. Equity and Status in Group Collaboration: Learning Through Explanations Depends on Task Characteristics. Social Psychology of Education 5, 179–200 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014405118351
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014405118351