Teaching talk for thinking: The efficacy of a peer talk teaching program for improving group thinking

Abstract

<p> <span>When a group of individuals collaboratively consider about something, they are engaged in what is referred to as group thinking. Effective group thinking is typically characterized by high-quality peer talk in which students may or may not spontaneously engage. Despite routinely providing students with multiple opportunities for collaboration, teachers rarely provide explicit instructions on effective peer talk. This study developed a teaching-talk-for-thinking program for fourth-grade students and examined its efficacy by comparing an intervention class (both learning talking and practicing collaboration) with a comparison class (only practicing collaboration). The results showed significant differences between the two classes in collaborative discourse, but not in group thinking test scores. Successful groups from the two classes improved their group thinking in contrasting manners; as a dialogue-orientated group culture emerged in the intervention class, but not in the comparison class. The study demonstrated the impact of the program in promoting the interdependence of individual members which is difficult to spontaneously learn through practice. However, further research is needed to determine if additional teaching of productive peer talk can better improve group thinking skills than accumulation of collaboration experience alone.</span> <br></p>