The Impact on Incorporating Collaborative Concept Mapping with Coteaching Techniques in Elementary Science Classes

The purpose of this research was to evaluate a collaborative concept-mapping technique that was integrated into coteaching in fourth-grade science classes in order to examine students' performance and attitudes toward the experimental teaching method. There are two fourth-grade science teachers and four classes with a total of 114 students involved in the study. This study used a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The findings showed that the two teaching methods obtained significant difference with respect to students' test scores. Using collaborative concept mapping to learn science could increase the opportunity of discussion between peers, thus fostering better organization and understanding the content. In addition, coteaching could enable teachers to share their expertise with one another. It could facilitate the implementation of collaborative concept mapping and the construction of student's concept mapping. Team teachers' attitude could affect the students' learning performance. However, some of the students had negative views on drawing concept maps because they found it was troublesome to write down many words, difficult to draw and arrange proposition, and time-consuming. Coteachers' instant feedback and students' journal writing could guide and examine the students' concept maps to facilitate their cognitive learning.