Reciprocal teaching intervention in elementary mathematics classrooms : Children's social goals, interactive processes, and academic achievement

Abstract

The present study examined effects of a reciprocal teaching (RT) intervention on small group learning processes in elementary mathematics classes, and interactive effects of reciprocal teaching and children's social motivation (prosocial goals;Nakaya,2007,in Japanese). The participants,101 fifth grade children in a public elementary school,were divided into small groups. The design was a 2 (group:reciprocal teaching vs.control)X 2(prosocial goal:high vs.low)design;the dependent variables were academic achievement and positive cognition of group learning (involvement/understanding and deep thinking). The results indicated that the reciprocal teaching intervention group showed significant improvement in academic performance compared to the control groups. Among the children with low prosocial goals,positive cognition of group learning (involvement/understanding)increased following the reciprocal teaching intervention. Moreover, a qualitative analysis revealed that the percentage of deep learning discourse was higher in the reciprocal teaching groups than in the control groups. These results suggest that the effects of the reciprocal teaching intervention on learning processes were mediated by the degree of the children's prosocial goals.