1. How do peers affect learning?
Tamise Ironstrack
Jennene Minera
Stephanie McKay
Amanda Klee

2. Group Socialization Theory (Harris)
“The process by which an infant becomes an acceptable member of his or her society -- one who behaves appropriately, knows the language, possesses the requisite skills, and holds the prevailing beliefs and attitudes.”

3. The Basic Phenomena of Group Behavior
In-group favoritism
Out-group hostility
Between-group contrast
Within-group assimilation
Within-group differentiation

4. Categorization
Age
Sex
Race

5. Within-Group Processes
Assimilation
Temperament and group behavioral norms
“Peer pressure”
Differentiation
Status hierarchies
Social Comparison

6. Between-group contrasts Within-group differences in status
Effects that increase individual differences in personality among children in Western Societies
Major effects:
Between-group contrasts
Within-group differences in status
Within-group social comparisons
Minor effects:
Within-family differences in status
Within-family social comparisons and contrasts

7. Gender
Same-gendered groups
Mixed-gendered groups

8. Critical Question Which type of peer groups are more effective…
Mixed-gendered groups?
Same-gendered groups?

9. Effects of gender in peer collaborative problem solving in an eighth grade classroom
Students were given the opportunity to choose their own groups
Students primarily chose to work with students of the same gender, mostly friends

10. Results
Problems that arose in completing the tasks decreased over time
Social problems were less prominent in peer groups of females than with groups of males
More effective work was done when the students chose to work with peers of the same gender
Many times teachers fear same-gendered groups because of disruptions and time off task

11. Piaget
Perspective that with positive relationships in a group there will be lesser conflict. Thus, performance of collaborative tasks will be more positive

12. Early on in a child’s life, their peer interactions tend to be characterized in same-gendered groups
Trend continues throughout childhood

13. Group Socialization Theory
Children spend a lot of time playing together in same-gendered groups
Socialization does occur
Explains why children tend to flock toward same gender peer groups in school

14. Interaction within groups
Boys tend to participate in more active-forceful activities in larger groups, away from adults
Girls were more likely to play in small, dyadic groups, near adults
Drawback--stereotypical gender roles within these same-gendered groups
Less prominent when the groups are mixed-gendered

15. Attainment Girls tend to take school more seriously than boys do
Until about the age of sixteen
Equally likely to become high attainers

16. Mixed-gendered groups
When the activities within collaborative groups are less structured

17. Ethnicity
African Americans
Mexican Americans
Asians

18. Critical Questions
How do students from different ethnic groups contribute to each other’s learning?
How do peer aspirations for academic achievement differ along racial lines?

19. African American
More Black peers leads to lower academic achievement especially for high ability students
This can be attributed to “acting white”
“Acting white” theory doesn’t work for all peer groups

20. Students of Mexican Origin
Peers are most influential in the groups of students with low familial births in the United States

21. Students of Chinese origin
Chinese peer groups are formed with academic performance as a main factor
High achieving students have higher social status

22. All aspirations have similar effects on students
Aspirations of peers
Hispanic - lowest aspirations for peers
African American - low aspirations
Asian - high aspirations for peers
All aspirations have similar effects on students

23. Ability
Gifted Learners
Typical Learner
Learning Disabled

24. Critical Questions
How do students with different ability levels tend to group themselves?
How can professional educators group these students in their classrooms so that all students benefit?

25. Students tend to…
Gravitate towards others of similar ability in peer situations

26. Motivation Learners Must…
Pay attention
Be able to retain the modeled behavior
Be able to physically reproduce what has been modeled
Must be motivated to demonstrate what they have learned

27. Learning disabled may believe they are “physically” unable to reproduce what they see being modeled in gifted learners.
Intern this may cause students who struggle to group themselves together.

28. Gifted students tend to be extremely competitive, thus gravitating towards one another in social situations because of common motivation.
Many gifted students prefer individualized learning to cooperative learning, because they have a desire to be viewed as intellectually above others.

29. Most Beneficial to All…
Although some students may prefer individual or cooperative learning over the other, all students actually achieve higher and have greater gains in heterogeneous cooperative learning situations (Schniedewind, Davidson, 2000)

30. The Key
The key lies in engaging students in tasks with different levels of complexity.
In this model “every student learns something that he or she doesn’t already know; all students contribute to a common goal” (Schniedewind, Davidson, 2000).

31. High Ability Benefits
Must explain concepts that they are attempting to master.
Challenged to think about why a concept works and how to explain it, rather than simply figuring it out and moving on.
Teachers understand this.

32. Low Ability Benefits
Observe thought processes that are different from their own.
Many times these lower-level students need a very concrete model of how to think or accomplish a task, when higher-level students are able to be that model, lower level students achieve higher.

33. Not all about academics
Not only do students of high ability make academic gains they also learn to
Think critically
Encourage others
Critique others
Express themselves (Schniedewind, Davidson, 2000).

34. A Well-Rounded Education
More academic gains may be seen in lower ability students does not mean that heterogeneous grouping is detrimental to students of high ability.
It is important to remember that a quality education is not simply about academic success, but about learning to work democratically with others.

35. Conclusion
Group Socialization Theory - peer groups influence behavior & learning more than families or genetics
Peer groups more effective when they are heterogeneous
Salient differences have dramatic influence on shaping behavior
Diverse groups help students become active members of our democratic society