THE USE OF GROUP TESTS TO PROMOTE COLLABORATION AND LEARNING: DO THEY WORK?

Authors

  • Kimberley Ann Gilbride Ryerson University

Keywords:

Group-testing, collaborative testing, science, active learning, knowledge retention

Abstract

The research was carried out to determine whether the use of group tests for undergraduate science students to augment lecture material in a second-year core course in microbiology would improve the retention of material on a subsequent regular mid-term/final exam. On three separate occasions, the students were asked to complete short multiple-choice tests individually and then were asked to get together in groups of 4 to re-answer the same questions. The discussions they had in the groups improved their individual marks by 10.9% in the first test, 14.5% in the second test and 20.9% in the third test. Overall, the class average was 2.5% better than the previous year. The majority of the students indicated that the group tests improved their understanding and helped them to learn the lecture material.

Author Biography

Kimberley Ann Gilbride, Ryerson University

KIMBERLEY ANN GILBRIDE is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. She has taught general biology, microbiology and molecular biology courses for over 25 years. She has introduced numerous teaching interventions into her classroom over the years and was awarded the Dean’s Teaching Award for the Faculty of Science in 2013.

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Published

2021-02-08

How to Cite

Gilbride, K. A. (2021). THE USE OF GROUP TESTS TO PROMOTE COLLABORATION AND LEARNING: DO THEY WORK?. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 55(1). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9468

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2021 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

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