The Effects of Constructivist Instruction Applying Cooperative Learning Skill

협동기술을 적용한 구성주의적 수업의 효과 분석

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of constructivist instruction applying cooperative learning skill on science academic achievement, science inquiry ability, self-regulated learning, and science related attitude. The subjects of the study were 157 2nd grade junior high school students in Pusan. Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups, experiment and control group. Two groups received 14 sessions training for about 1 month which was done by researcher. The experiment group received constructivist science instruction and the control group received teacher-centered instruction. Constructivist science instruction applying cooperative learning skill consists of five phases: problem recognition, hypothesis establishment, experiment observation, clarification, and application phases. The results of this study are as follows: Constructivist science instruction applying cooperative learning skill had a significant effect on science academic achievement, self-regulated learning and science attitude improvement of middle school students but had no significant improvement of science inquiry ability. And constructivist science instruction had an effect on science academic achievement improvement of the students having high level science inquiry ability. Research suggestions and implications for teaching are discussed.