Summary of results
- The link between personality and test performance was extremely weak
- The mean improvement between pre-and post-test scores was 13.7%, making this the least successful activity compared to working alone and pairwork.
- This was perceived to be the most stressful of the four learning episodes
- Despite over half the class reporting some degree of stress, almost all of them still found the activity helpful
Test results in more detail
Firstly we compared students' pre-test and post-test scores. We
plotted the percentage difference between these two scores against
students' personality type on a scatter graph and then added a
trend line to see if there was any suggestion of a link. No students scored 100% in the pre-test for this exercise, so data for all students were included.
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| Introverts did very slightly better in this exercise, but the link with personality type was extremely weak |
The mean improvement between scores was 13.7%, making this the least successful activity of the four undertaken. Three students scored lower in the post-test than the pre-test and two others scored the same, with the remaining 18 students recording an improvement between their pre-and post-test scores.
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| Over three quarters of the class improved on their pre-test scores |
We administered an end of term test, which was again identical to the post-test, to see how many words the learners still remembered. Two of the original students were absent on this occasion and so 21 students were re-tested. As the groupwork activity fell towards the end of the term, the re-test happened in the week immediately following the original activity, a significantly smaller gap than for the "working alone" activity.
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| Eight students scored better in the end of term test than the post-test suggesting better retention of this lexis |
Student questionnaires
We then looked at the student questionnaires to see how learners felt about this episode of vocabulary learning. Firstly, we considered whether there was a link between
the learner's personality type and how stressful they found the
exercise.
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| Over half of the class found this a somewhat stressful activity |
The link between personality and stress was extremely weak for this activity. However, thirteen students reported feeling slightly stressed and one students was very stressed and so this was perceived as the most stressful activity of the four. This was surprising, given that it was the final activity in the sequence of different ways of learning. The students should have been used to the test-teach-test format and the questionnaires by this stage. It could have been due to the fact that the activity was much more stimulating and therefore perceived as more stressful by some students.
Students also reported on how enjoyable they found the activity. Only one, slightly introvert, student said that she had not enjoyed the activity much. However, the extraverted students were generally more enthusiastic about the exercise than the introverts.
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| Almost all students enjoyed the groupwork activity |
Finally, we asked students how helpful they had found this way of learning. Only one of the learners felt that the exercise had not helped much, with the rest feeling that it had helped "a bit" or "a lot".
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| This activity was generally found to be helpful |
Different perspectives on this way of learning
In the light of the quantitative data above, it was interesting to review the comments of some of the different participants in the lesson. The teacher's comments were recorded immediately after the lesson. The student reactions were captured at the end of term.
The teacher:
An extravert student:
An introvert student:
To hear these students discussing how they felt, listen to the audio version
Watch a video of Magda (an ambivert) explaining why she likes group work.
Similarly, Danilo, Oguinei, Anna and Hiba talk here about how it's helpful when the teacher describes a word to the group, but then they can then explain a word to other students.
