The Effect of Collaborative Reasoning on Adolescents' Social Development

• In Event: Novel Explorations of Collaboration and Connectedness in Social Contexts

Abstract

This study examines the effect of Collaborative Reasoning (CR) on adolescents’ development of social relationships. Participants were 474 seventh-graders from eight classes at a rural middle school in China. Four classes were randomly selected to participate in CR discussions, while the remained four classes served as the control group. Students’ social characteristics and friendship ties were collected in sociometric questionnaires. The results showed that students developed more new social ties after having CR discussions, and girls with low peer liking ratings had more maintained friendships in the CR group as compared to girls in the control group. The implication is that CR is an effective instructional approach to promote Chinese adolescents' social development, especially for girls.

Authors

• Xuan Li, East China Normal University
  Presenting Author

• Shufeng Ma, East China Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author