TABLE 7.
Student attitudes about group interactions
| Volunteer call (n = 40 students) | Random call (n = 90 students) | |
|---|---|---|
| Survey questions | Average rating (SD) | Average rating (SD) |
| I usually learned more from a small-group discussion when I asked people to explain their thinking. | 4.2 (0.9) | 4.1 (0.8) |
| I usually learned more from a small-group discussion when I explained my own thinking to the group. | 3.8 (1.1) | 3.9 (0.9) |
| I probably got more questions right as a result of discussing them with a small group. | 4.2 (1.0) | 4.0 (0.8) |
| In general, knowing how to work collaboratively is rewarded in the professional workplace. | 4.2 (0.9) | 4.3 (0.6) |
| In general, students who work collaboratively in class are rewarded with higher grades. | 3.5 (1.0) | 3.4 (0.9) |
| I take discussion time more seriously when my group has to be ready to contribute ideas to the whole class. | Not asked | 3.8 (0.8) |
| I learn more from discussion if my group has to be ready to contribute ideas to the whole class | Not asked | 3.7 (0.8) |
Students rated the value of group interactions at the end of the course on a scale of strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Responses from students were not different between the beginning and end of the course within a section (unpublished data) or between the two sections, Mann-Whitney U-test, p > 0.05.