Cooperative Learning and Visual Organisers: Effects on Solving Mole Problems in High School Chemistry

Eighty‐seven high school students participated in the study in one of four conditions: 1. Visual Organiser/Cooperative Learning 2. Cooperative Learning only 3. Visual Organiser only 4. Teacher‐Directed Students were taught how to use mole maps to assist them in solving single‐quantity and multiple‐quantity mole problems. A mole problem involves converting quantities of chemicals to moles, a unit of measurement used in Chemistry. Students took tests immediately after instruction and then took mid‐term examinations that included mole problems. Repeated measures analyses with post‐instruction test scores and the mid‐term scores for single and multiple‐quantity mole problems showed that student performance was significantly better immediately after instruction for both kinds of problems. Students who used visual organisers and cooperative learning outperformed students who experienced teacher‐directed instruction on single‐quantity mole problems and also on the immediate post‐instruction test of multiple‐quantity mole problems. Cooperative learning resulted in less decay in performance over time.