'A critical investigation of whether grouping students by gender affects participation in discussion-based learning: a case study with a Year 8 class studying death'
Leonora Dowley
Secondary PGCE (Religious Studies,) 2010-2011
This case study looks at the effects of classroom seating plans on discussions in a series of Year 8 lessons about death. It investigates actual student participation for recall and analytical questions; perceived student participation for recall and analytical questions; and the effect of each seating plan on student enjoyment. The research uses non-participant observations, questionnaires, and informal conversation interviews to make its findings, and is able to make some observations about general trends in this class. The findings show that there is only a small difference in participation between boys and girls, although participation in general changes depending on the seating plan. The findings also show that there is little difference by gender in the desire to participate in the lesson. The analysis of the findings attempts to explain why there is little difference between gender participation, and why participation in general changes according to seating, based on the preferred friendship groups of students outside the classroom, and students’ own ideas about confidence. The research is also shows that there is a direct link between enjoyment of a lesson and participation in it, and suggests that this a valuable conclusion for a classroom practitioner hoping to get the best out of all students.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file: 221-242-dowleyl
Citation: Dowley , L. (2011) 'A critical investigation of whether seating students by gender affects participation in discussion-based learning: a case study with a Year 8 class studying death'Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, Volume 3, pp.221-242. (Downloaded from http://jotter.educ.cam.ac.uk/, [date of access])