Book Description

The purpose of this action research project is to improve student social skills through the use of cooperative learning, in order to develop a positive classroom environment that is conducive to learning. The action research project will involve approximately 95 students, 95 parents, and 200 teachers. It is the intent of the teacher researchers to improve students' social skills through the following strategies: role-playing, jig sawing, think-pair-share, and graphic organizers. This study will be conducted for twelve consecutive weeks (from October 2, 2006 to December 18, 2006) in the 2006 fall semester. The teacher researchers hope that improved social skills will create a positive learning environment that will benefit all students. It has been a common complaint among teachers, parents, and administrators that far too much valuable time in the classroom is consumed by disciplinary measures. The teacher researchers agree with research that has shown the need for disciplinary measures is the result of acquisition deficits (student does not know the skill), performance deficits (student knows how to perform the skill, but fails to do so), fluency deficits (student knows how to perform skill, but demonstrates inadequate performance), and internal/external factors (negative motivation or depression) (NASP, retrieved 2006). Each week the instruction will involve a mini-lesson. The skill is taught on Mondays. Tuesday through Thursday during at least two lessons students will work in cooperative groups where they will have the opportunity to practice the skill taught on Monday. On Fridays students will reflect on the week's activities. The first two weeks will focus on active listening. The third and fourth weeks will focus on students staying on-task. The fifth and sixth weeks will focus on problem solving. Possible strategies that will be used throughout the six-week documentation period will include think-pair-share (discussions among pairs of students), jig-sawing (used to gather a lot of information in a short amount of time by dividing tasks among group members), role playing (acting out the social skills), and graphic organizers (t-charts, concept maps, KWL, and the fishbone). Researchers have advocated the implementation and use of cooperative learning in order to increase student achievement and social skills development (Siegel, 2005). With the implementation of cooperative learning strategies, these teacher researchers hope to improve the social skills of their students. Appended are: (1) Teacher Observation Checklist; (2) Teacher Survey; (3) School-Wide Faculty Survey; (4) Student Survey; and (5) Parent Survey. (Contains 36 figures.) [Master of Arts Action Research Project, Saint Xavier University].