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To remedy this problem, the instructor undertook to identify students’ strong points in different aspects of problem solving. He identified which students were inclined to take action, which were good at decision-making, which at identifying problems, and which at brainstorming. Then he assigned students to groups so that each group had one person strong in each of these areas. The results were a striking increase in the productivity of all groups. But there was a catch: although the students were indeed more productive, they did not like being assigned partners as well as choosing their own! Maintaining this particular ATI may therefore prove difficult over the long term—perhaps another reason by ATI research has not always found consistent results.
Think about the fact that results of ATI have been inconsistent, even though it seems reasonable given the obvious diversity among students in every classroom. Assuming that you support the idea of ATIs, explain how you would justify it to two kinds of people: (1) a fellow teacher in your school, and (2) a professor of educational psychology.
Given the results of Peterson’s research study, what is the best advice you could give to teachers (or to yourself) about how to set up cooperative learning groups? Should students choose their own partners, or should the teacher choose them? Keep in mind the proviso mentioned at the end—that the students preferred to choose their own partners, even though it meant learning less.
Cronbach, L.&Snow, R. (1977). Aptitudes and instructional methods: A handbook for research on interaction. New York: Irvington.
Crutsinger, C., Knight, D.,&Kinley. (2005). Learning style preferences: Implications for Web-based instruction. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 23 (4), 266-276.
Snow, R. (1989). Aptitude-treatment interaction as a framework for research on individual differences in learning. In P. Ackerman, R. Sternberg,&R. Glaser (Eds.), Learning and individual differences, pp. 13-60. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Peterson, T. (2004). So you’re thinking of trying problem-based learning?: Three critical success factors for implementation. Journal of Management Education, 28 (5), 630-647.
Multicultural and anti-racist curricula work partly by portraying and discussing individuals of diverse racial or ethnic background in ways that counteract stereotypes. Students read stories, watch videos, and talk about respected citizens—doctors, political leaders, celebrities, and the like—who happen to be African-American, Hispanic, or of some other non-Caucasian origin. In some cases, especially at the early childhood level, students’ interests and concerns are used to guide the selection and integration of diversity-related activities (Derman-Sparks, 1994).
One way of thinking about such a curriculum is that it tries to make students into “experts,” even at relatively young ages, about racial and ethnic differences. Instead of thinking about diversity in superficial terms—as based merely on skin color, for example—students learn to see diversity as complex and multi-faceted. An African-American child and a White child do not simply differ in color, for example; they are both similar and different in many ways. Hopefully the greater subtlety of their expert knowledge also reduces negative biases felt about race.
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