scholarly journals Performance of small group majorities in a single task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Olsson

Aggregating decisions from larger groups typically results in outcomes with higher accuracy than decision outcomes from single individuals or smaller groups. Here I argue that it is important to consider not only overall proportion of correct decisions, but also individual competencies in terms of hits (h) and correct rejections (cr). I show that small groups can perform better than randomly selected individuals and larger groups in a single task when the average individual proportion correct is above .5, h and cr are asymmetric around .5, and h+cr>1. If the average individual proportion correct is below .5 and h+cr<1, small groups perform worse than individuals and larger groups. I also demonstrate that these two performance patterns can occur in empirical data from studies on violent recidivism, psychiatric morbidity, anxiety, and deception detection. I also show that the presence of correlations between decisions in a single task has both beneficial and detrimental effects when it comes to small group performance.

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Kamps ◽  
Mary Abbott ◽  
Charles Greenwood ◽  
Carmen Arreaga-Mayer ◽  
Howard Wills ◽  
...  

This experimental/comparison study of secondary-level, small-group instruction included 318 first- and second-grade students (170 ELL and 148 English-only) from six elementary schools. All schools served high numbers of ELL students with varying school SES in urban and suburban communities. Experimental schools implemented a three-tier model of intervention. In addition to primary-tier reading instruction, the second-tier, small-group experimental interventions included use of (a) evidence-based direct instruction reading curricula that explicitly targeted skills such as phonological/phonemic awareness, letter-sound recognition, alphabetic decoding, fluency building and comprehension skills; and (b) small groups of 3 to 6 students. Students at comparison schools were not exposed to a three-tier reading program but received (a) an ESL intervention using balanced literacy instruction with a focus on word study, group and individual story reading, and writing activities; and (b) small groups of 6 to 15 students. The ESL/balanced literacy intervention was generally in addition to primary reading instruction. Results indicated generally higher gains for ELL students enrolled in direct instruction interventions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
GENA RHOADES

There are many reasons for students to work in small groups in any class, but when the focus is on teaching them a language, the need to do so, multiplies. During my time as a teacher and teacher trainer, I have heard many reasons why teachers do not want to use group work, and it seems to boil down to a feeling of being unable to control the class. Fortunately, my first few years of teaching were in a program where small-group and whole class interactions were expected. Small classes gave students many opportunities to practice the target language and receive feedback from their peers and instructors.


1962 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond B. Cattell ◽  
Edwin D. Lawson

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
M. Zaini Miftah

This article reports the results of investigation on the utilization of Edmodo as an online tool in EFL writing class to increase the students’ ability in producing an argumentative essay. Classroom Action Research was applied in the study. 15 Indonesian EFL students who enrolled in the course of Argumentative Writing became the participants of the study. Observation, writing task, questionnaire, and field notes were used for the data collection. The data obtained were categorized into qualitative and quantitative data. The collected data were then analyzed for the conclusion drawn. The results show that the utilization of Edmodo in EFL writing class could significantly increase the students’ ability in producing an argumentative essay in the Cycle 2. The Appropriate teaching procedures are; prepare the teaching materials, introduce Edmodo, guide students to get ready to use Edmodo, give an opportunity to students to get in the Edmodo group, train students to use Edmodo group, group students in the small group via Edmodo, give students writing tasks through Edmodo, provide a guideline and tell students to follow the guideline to access their small group, ask students to post their first drafts of an argumentative essay on their small groups, ask students to give feedback on their peers’ works, ask students to revise their drafts of the argumentative essay based on the their peers’ feedback and teacher, and ask students to post their final products of an argumentative essay on their Edmodo account.Keywords: Edmodo; Online tool, EFL writing class, Writing ability, Argumentative essay


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Chen ◽  
Bernd Meyer ◽  
Julian García

AbstractSocial insect colonies are capable of allocating their workforce in a decentralised fashion; addressing a variety of tasks and responding effectively to changes in the environment. This process is fundamental to their ecological success, but the mechanisms behind it remain poorly understood. While most models focus on internal and individual factors, empirical evidence highlights the importance of ecology and social interactions. To address this gap we propose a game theoretical model of task allocation. Individuals are characterised by a trait that determines how they split their energy between two prototypical tasks: foraging and regulation. To be viable, a colony needs to learn to adequately allocate its workforce between these two tasks. We study two different processes: individuals can learn relying exclusively on their own experience, or by using the experiences of others via social learning. We find that social organisation can be determined by the ecology alone, irrespective of interaction details. Weakly specialised colonies in which all individuals tend to both tasks emerge when foraging is cheap; harsher environments, on the other hand, lead to strongly specialised colonies in which each individual fully engages in a single task. We compare the outcomes of self-organised task allocation with optimal group performance. Counter to intuition, strongly specialised colonies perform suboptimally, whereas the group performance of weakly specialised colonies is closer to optimal. Social interactions lead to important differences when the colony deals with dynamic environments. Colonies whose individuals rely on their own experience are more exible when dealing with change. Our computational model is aligned with mathematical predictions in tractable limits. This different kind of model is useful in framing relevant and important empirical questions, where ecology and interactions are key elements of hypotheses and predictions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Luong Hai Nhu Nguyen

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of upper-year students in Vietnamese primary schools about learning in small groups when studying Vietnamese language in comparison to traditional methods. Students’ perceptions of small group learning were explored through examination of five main factors: benefits, difficulties, group types, individual accountability, and group assessment.  An interpretive approach was used to explore the topic, from which data were collected in a two-phase multi-case study using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Four classes of three primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, having different applications of small groups in learning, were selected for observation and survey by questionnaire. Twenty four students from the first phase of the study varying in gender and learning achievement were chosen for face-to-face interviews to examine more in-depth their perceptions about small group learning. To improve the trustworthiness of the research, teachers from these classes and principles of the schools were interviewed to obtain a more accurate overview of the research.  The study found that overall, Vietnamese upper-primary students preferred to learning in small groups to the traditional whole-class model despite the differences in implementing small group learning in each school. The results showed a positive concurrence with existing literature on the main findings, such as the three main benefits to students’ outcomes (e.g. academic achievement, social skills, and attitudes); and some inevitable difficulties when using this method for learning (e.g. time management, isolation and lack of group skills). The students’ choices of group types also reflected the current international students’ perceptions (e.g. preference for heterogeneous ability but homogeneous gender group).  The research also presented some interesting points unique to the Vietnamese context which might enrich the current literature of students’ perceptions of small group learning. They were the preference for large group sizes, the two-aspects of leadership, the preference for whole-group assessment, and the suitability of this method for learning Vietnamese language rather than other subjects. The research also showed the underlying influences of the desire for better achievement, the consideration for others’ feelings and the collective cultural context on Vietnamese upper primary students’ views of small group learning in learning Vietnamese language. The relationships between students’ gender and achievement to their perceptions of small group learning were also mentioned and described though these were not strong enough to generalise. A theoretical framework was proposed to illustrate the research findings. These findings suggest that small group learning should be implemented more frequently in Vietnamese primary schools and the study recommends that there be further training in group skills for students.</p>


Diogenes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Vladimirovna ◽  

The article analyzes the results of research on creativity to generate effective competitive arguments in a small group. The respondents took part in the exercise «7 bogatyrs», they were faced with the task of making arguments, conducting a self-presentation to win. Characteristics of effective competitive arguments: the consideration of the interests and needs of the person who chooses a winner; the advantages of own proposals, the disadvantages of competitors ‘proposals’. The results of the study are of practical significance for economic psychology, especially for marketing psychology and for gender psychology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 374-382
Author(s):  
Juraid Abdul Latief ◽  
Ika Listiqowati ◽  
Arifuddin Abd Muis

The aim of the research was to develop a supplement of teaching materials for classXI geography subjects based on the local wisdom of the Kaili Da'a tribe in SigiRegency, Central Sulawesi, which is valid and feasible. Before developing thesupplement of teaching materials, first make preparations, namely: (1) Kaili Da'aresearch community in Dombu village, Marawola Sub district, Sigi Regency relatedto local wisdom values that are relevant to the geography material of XI high schoolclass. (2) Examines the Content Competency, Basic Competence, Teaching Materialand values of local wisdom that can be implemented in the geography learningmaterials of class XI high school. Teaching material supplements developed werevalidated by material experts and linguists. Products validated by material expertsand linguists show a percentage of 85% with qualifications that are very suitable foruse, after which a revision is made. The revised teaching material supplement wasthen tested for eligibility in small groups. The small group was 20 students of SMA 4Sigi, 20 students of SMA AL-Khairat Kalukubula, and 20 students of SMA 2 Sigi.The results of the feasibility test in the small group were 86.15% for SMA Negeri 4Sigi, 87.30% for SMA AL-Khairat Kalukubula and 86.73% for SMA Negeri 2 Sigi.These percentages respectively showed that the results of the development ofteaching material supplements received responses. Positive and qualify as eligible tobe used as a supplement of teaching materials.


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