Jigsaw Variations and Attitudes About Learning and the Self in Cognitive Psychology

Abstract

Jigsaw classroom research has primarily explored racial relationships at the primary and secondary educational levels. The present study explored whether the jigsaw classroom would have an effect on students’ attitudes about their own academic abilities and practices at the university level. The present study also sought to illuminate the necessary time course for the technique. Three sections of students in a cognitive psychology course participated. One section received a full jigsaw exposure, one received a reduced jigsaw exposure, and one received no jigsaw exposure. Posttests reveal that students given the full jigsaw exposure report an increased ability to teach psychological concepts to other students compared to the control condition. Moreover, there is evidence that the jigsaw technique increases the students’ ability to communicate orally and their belief in themselves as scholars.