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The Influence on Academic Performance of Working Group Methodology

Received: 13 February 2018    Accepted: 8 May 2018    Published: 24 May 2018
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Abstract

The Working Group Methodology has positive effects on students’ academic performance. The contribution of this study consists in determining the variables by means of which the Working Group Methodology influences academic performance, and in comparing the effectiveness of two different working group methodologies: cooperative learning (hereafter CL) and group work without guidelines established by the teacher, known as the Unstructured Groups Methodology (hereafter UGM). To that end, the effect of Working Group Methodology on academic performance is measured using three factors: 1) student attitudes; 2) attitude to learning and the learning approach adopted by students; and 3) student skills. The sample is made up of 110 students from a Spanish university, working on the Corporate Finance module of a degree in Business Administration and Management. Based on the analysis of Structural Equation Modeling the conclusion is reached that only the CL methodology affects academic performance, and that it does so via student skills; its influence via the attitude to learning and the learning approach of the student is also debated. In addition, it can be seen that CL influences student attitudes and skills in a more significant way than UGM. Finally, the results show that the variables in the model account for academic performance to a greater extent in the group in which CL was used (R2=0.264) than in the group in which UGM was applied (R2=0.187). These results demonstrate the greater effectiveness of group work when based on well-defined guidelines, rather than when developed without a predefined structure.

Published in Higher Education Research (Volume 3, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.her.20180302.11
Page(s) 23-31
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Academic Performance, Working Group, Cooperative Learning, Skills, Attitudes, Learning Approach

References
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  • APA Style

    Icíar Carmen Jiménez Barandalla, José Luis Montes Botella, Paloma Bernal Turnes. (2018). The Influence on Academic Performance of Working Group Methodology. Higher Education Research, 3(2), 23-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180302.11

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    Icíar Carmen Jiménez Barandalla; José Luis Montes Botella; Paloma Bernal Turnes. The Influence on Academic Performance of Working Group Methodology. High. Educ. Res. 2018, 3(2), 23-31. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180302.11

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    AMA Style

    Icíar Carmen Jiménez Barandalla, José Luis Montes Botella, Paloma Bernal Turnes. The Influence on Academic Performance of Working Group Methodology. High Educ Res. 2018;3(2):23-31. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20180302.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.her.20180302.11,
      author = {Icíar Carmen Jiménez Barandalla and José Luis Montes Botella and Paloma Bernal Turnes},
      title = {The Influence on Academic Performance of Working Group Methodology},
      journal = {Higher Education Research},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {23-31},
      doi = {10.11648/j.her.20180302.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20180302.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20180302.11},
      abstract = {The Working Group Methodology has positive effects on students’ academic performance. The contribution of this study consists in determining the variables by means of which the Working Group Methodology influences academic performance, and in comparing the effectiveness of two different working group methodologies: cooperative learning (hereafter CL) and group work without guidelines established by the teacher, known as the Unstructured Groups Methodology (hereafter UGM). To that end, the effect of Working Group Methodology on academic performance is measured using three factors: 1) student attitudes; 2) attitude to learning and the learning approach adopted by students; and 3) student skills. The sample is made up of 110 students from a Spanish university, working on the Corporate Finance module of a degree in Business Administration and Management. Based on the analysis of Structural Equation Modeling the conclusion is reached that only the CL methodology affects academic performance, and that it does so via student skills; its influence via the attitude to learning and the learning approach of the student is also debated. In addition, it can be seen that CL influences student attitudes and skills in a more significant way than UGM. Finally, the results show that the variables in the model account for academic performance to a greater extent in the group in which CL was used (R2=0.264) than in the group in which UGM was applied (R2=0.187). These results demonstrate the greater effectiveness of group work when based on well-defined guidelines, rather than when developed without a predefined structure.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    AU  - Icíar Carmen Jiménez Barandalla
    AU  - José Luis Montes Botella
    AU  - Paloma Bernal Turnes
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    AB  - The Working Group Methodology has positive effects on students’ academic performance. The contribution of this study consists in determining the variables by means of which the Working Group Methodology influences academic performance, and in comparing the effectiveness of two different working group methodologies: cooperative learning (hereafter CL) and group work without guidelines established by the teacher, known as the Unstructured Groups Methodology (hereafter UGM). To that end, the effect of Working Group Methodology on academic performance is measured using three factors: 1) student attitudes; 2) attitude to learning and the learning approach adopted by students; and 3) student skills. The sample is made up of 110 students from a Spanish university, working on the Corporate Finance module of a degree in Business Administration and Management. Based on the analysis of Structural Equation Modeling the conclusion is reached that only the CL methodology affects academic performance, and that it does so via student skills; its influence via the attitude to learning and the learning approach of the student is also debated. In addition, it can be seen that CL influences student attitudes and skills in a more significant way than UGM. Finally, the results show that the variables in the model account for academic performance to a greater extent in the group in which CL was used (R2=0.264) than in the group in which UGM was applied (R2=0.187). These results demonstrate the greater effectiveness of group work when based on well-defined guidelines, rather than when developed without a predefined structure.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • Department of Business Economy, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain

  • Department of Applied Economics, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain

  • Department of Business Economy, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain

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