Grouping Strategies and Ability Continuum in Cooperative Learning: A Search for the Best Match

Group composition in the courses that use cooperation as a major teaching/learning component, has been studied in terms of many factors including ability, gender, ethnicity, race…. Findings of the recent studies have started to uncover the complexities of cooperative learning and are evaluating the impact that different groupings of learners have on the overall achievement of them. As a new line of research in this regard, some scholars (Baer, 2003; Ghanbari, et al.2004) have questioned the dominance of heterogeneous grouping by showing that homogeneously-grouped learners outperformed heterogeneously-grouped ones. Also, no reason was found to prove significantly the long-accepted heterogeneity as a necessary condition for effective cooperation among learners. The present study looks deeper and investigates what happens to different ability levels, i.e. high-, average- and low-achievers in either grouping format. For this purpose, a population of 100 elementary-level learners in Tehran University Jahad Daneshgahi language center was assigned randomly to either homogeneous or heterogeneous groups. Based on their scores on OPT (Oxford Placement Test), three ability levels, i.e. high, average, and low- were formed and they were put in groups of three with the related grouping format. The class period lasted 12 weeks of instruction. At the end of the semester OPT-as a measure of achievement- was administered again. Results of T-Tests showed that high-and average- achieving students substantially benefited from homogeneous grouping. Low achievers did equally well in either type of groups. Findings are in line with the studies that support the superiority of homogeneously-grouped learners compared with the heterogeneously- grouped ones and would provide a more solid basis for any judgment on the preference of different groupings for diverse ability levels in cooperative learning activities