Dyadic Pairings for the Enhancement of Cognitive Development in the School Curriculum: some preliminary results on science tasks

Fields of cognitive development and science education have been linked over the past two decades. Within science education, developmental stages in scientific reasoning have informed the construction of curricula. Tests of science reasoning have informed us as to the match between pupil levels and curriculum expectations. Alternatively, collaborative and co‐operative groupings (in the field of cognitive development) have been shown to provide a necessary means to promote the transition from one stage to the next, and a dynamic underlying the development of scientific understanding. In applying the collaborative approach to education, this study questions whether the pupil's understanding of scientific concepts will be enhanced by the use of collaborative pairings and whether type of pairing affects performance (noting that the collaborative approach can easily be applied to other curriculum areas). Results found pupils working in pairs performed significantly better than their counterparts working individually and dyads improved upon initial performance no matter whether they are placed in equal and unequal matched pairings. Improvement by individual members within the pairings is explored. Educational implications may be drawn from this collaborative approach which will have application in curriculum planning.