Study on the Effects of Group Compositions in Group Learning of Experiment at Science Lesson (I) : Especially on Sociometric Grouping

Abstract

It is considered that the group composition has influence on group learning of science in school education. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of group composition in group learning of science lessons. The experimentation was carried out on the sociometric group and the heterogeneous group in terms of subjects' intelligence scores. The hypothesis tested was: "The subjects in the sociometric group condition will make more relevant interaction than those in the heterogeneous condition. Furthermore, the former was expected to show better performance and attitude than the latter." The subjects were elementary school children of 5th grade. Each group was composed of four children of the same sex. The indices of "performance", "attitude" and "interaction" of subjects