Findings
USING DIFFERENT KINDS OF GROUPINGS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS'
PARTICIPATION AND INTERACTION
(Chum Sopha, Sem Sreyneath)
The research aimed to evaluate the influence of different grouping strategies on students'
participation and interaction in collaborative learning experiences. Findings suggest varying
impacts based on the type of grouping used. Homogeneous (strong students with strong students,
weak students with weak students, and same-level students), heterogeneous (peer that know well
or friends), and mixed-ability groupings were used in this action research.
According to the questionnaire, we have found that 50% of the participants pretty good at listening
and okay level of listening are 41.7% and with 8.3% are not very well in listening (Figure 1). The
students with okay level of speaking are 66.7%, 25% are pretty good, and 8.3% are in a little bit
level (Figure 2). When it came to reading, the students seem to be good at it, 50% of the participants
students are pretty good at reading and 8.3% are in the very well level and with 41.7% are in okay
level of reading (Figure 3). With the writing skills, only 8.3% of the students are every well level,
and 25% are pretty good. 50% are in the okay level and 16.7% are in a little bit level (Figure 4).
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
A hundred percent of the students have done group work before (Figure 5). With the percentage of
91.7 like working as a group but only 8.3% of the students aren’t like working as a group (Figure
6). Most of the participants students with the percentage of 66.7 prefer working in group while the
remaining 33.3% prefer working in pair (Figure 7). There is a mixed opinions when it came to how
often they do the group work, with the highest percentage of 58.3 they do the group work in every
session, 25% do the group work three times a week, 8.3% do it one time a week, and another 8.3%
don’t do the group work every often (Figure 8). Normally, when they are doing the group work,
the answer with 66.7% are the teacher let them choose who to work with when they are doing the
group work and 33.3% are the teacher choose it for them (Figure 9). Most of the participants
students with the percentage of 66.7% are fine with whether the teacher form the group for them
or form by themselves, while 25% prefer to choose by themselves and only 8.3% prefer to let the
teacher choose for them (Figure 10).
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
The students with the percentage of 83.83% are preferred to work with the people that they know
and 16.7% want to work with the students that they don’t know (Figure 11). When the question
asked them about the level of the students that they want to work with, 41.7% of the students want
to work with the students at the same level, 25% of them want to work with the people that they
know, another 33.3% of them prefer to work with the students who is better than them, and none
of the students want to work with the people who are weaker than them (Figure 12). According to
the participants students’ experiences, 41.7% of them feel more confident to share their ideas when
they are working with most members in the group know each other, 25% are feel more confident
to share when working with the same level as them and another 33.3% are sharing their ideas more
when they are working in a group with mixed level members (Figure 13).
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
According to the participants students’ experiences, all of them express that they feel both
confident and comfortable to share their ideas during the group discussion. The reasons why they
are confident with their friends because they are not fear of judging each other, feel more relaxed
to express their opinion to them. Moreover, some of the students said that they feel comfortable to
share because they don’t have fear to make mistake when they are sharing the wrong idea (Figure
14 & 15).
Figure 14
Figure 15
The students’ experience work in the group with mixed abilities or levels students. There is a mixed
opinion here. About 50% of the students feel confident and comfortable to share their idea to the
group. They feel the urge to share the idea with this type of grouping because of some reasons.
Some said that it is their opportunity to share and get the opinions from different perspectives to
foster their learning and personal growth through all the members. Some said that it is not about
comparing their abilities but it a goal to help each other as a group to get better together, so the
students feel comfortable to share. Because of some reasons, some students feel uncomfortable or
comfortable to share their ideas when working with mixed abilities students, because of some
reasons such as getting blame when sharing the wrong ideas, hard to help the students who is weak,
and strong students are not listening to the shared ideas, while weak students in the group don’t
understand what the shared ideas is about (Figure 16&17).
Figure 16
Figure 17
According to the responses from the participants students, 100% of them feel both confident and
comfortable to express their ideas when working with group members of same level as them.
Working with peer at the same level allows them to feel more motivation and the opportunity to
learn from each other’s strength and expertise. Some students said that they feel confident because
it might make it easier to understand each other, feeling easy and free to share their ideas since
they are the same level. And there are also other reasons as well such as: not afraid to share their
ideas whether the ideas are right or wrong, they know each other well, and they have the similar
ideas etc. (Figure 18&19)
Figure 18
Figure 19
There is about 50% of the students feel comfortable or confident to share, while 50% feel less
confident to express their idea in the group of peers that has higher level than them. While some
students said that the stronger can help to correct them when they share the wrong ideas or don’t
know something and the strong abilities students in the group have good ideas that they can learn
from them. While some students said that they will be the lowest one the group or know little thing
and worried and afraid when they share the opinions to the group because it might be wrong and
might be get rejected from the high ability’s students in the group (Figure 20).
Figure 20
Limitations of this study, because this study is depending on students telling us about their
experiences, which may not always be completely accurate. Also, we need to study more about
which grouping methods work best for different subjects and age groups.
In conclusion, according to the findings it is important to consider students' perceptions and
preferences when using grouping strategies in the classroom. Homogeneous grouping and working
with familiar peers are the most effective strategies for increasing student participation and
interaction during the learning process. These groupings foster a sense of comfort, confidence, and
mutual understanding among students, thereby facilitating active engagement in collaborative
activities.