Some advocates of cooperative learning suggest that the most effective cooperative groups are those that include a wide range of student ability levels. How can we best summarize research findings regarding the effectiveness of different kinds of groups?
a. These advocates are correct; heterogeneous grouping maximizes student achievement.
b. Low-ability students do better when placed with high-ability students, but middle-ability students work best with students very similar to themselves in ability.
c. High-ability students rarely, if ever, benefit from working with low-ability students.
d. Research results are inconclusive with regard to the optimal range of ability levels within a particular group.
Question 2
Using the guidelines presented in the textbook, choose the topic below that would be most appropriate for a classroom discussion.
a. Interpreting Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven
b. Learning the various tenses of the verb to be
c. Studying the history of the United Nations
d. Learning how gravity affects the speed with which an object falls to the earth