The Influence of Small-Group Discussions on Students' Social Perspective-Taking

• In Event: Division C Outstanding Graduate Student Research Posters

Abstract

The current study examined whether students’ social perspective taking (SPT) could be developed through small group argumentative discussions. A total of 250 fifth-grade students were assigned to three conditions: Collaborative Social Reasoning (CSR), Read Aloud (RA) and Regular Instruction (RI). Students’ SPT was assessed before and after the intervention using a reflective essay task. Poisson regressions with Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) revealed that CSR students considered more social perspectives and provided more empirical and emotional reasons to justify those perspectives in comparison with students in the RA and RI groups. The findings shed light on the role of small-group discussions in enhancing students’ SPT via cognitive and affective pathways.

Authors

• Ziye Wen, The Ohio State University

• Tzu-Jung Lin, The Ohio State University

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Saetbyul Kim, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Seung Yon Ha, The Ohio State University

• Shantanu Tilak, The Ohio State University

• Manisha Naresh Nagpal, The Ohio State University