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Abstract

This article focuses on how work in small groups is structured in exploratory sequences in relation to directionalfactors. The structures refer to the level of cooperation in the groups. Videotapes of ninth-grade students working in groups, during regular classroom hours, were coded and analyzed. The model of directional factors proposes that a group -in order to function well-must regulate its behavior through attending to demands, resources, planning, coordination, distribution of work and production. It was found that cooperative groups patterned their exploratory sequences closer to what is usually referred to as ideal problem-solving behavior and that there were some essential differences in how directional factors were introduced and completed during group work between cooperative and less cooperative groups.

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Cooperativeness and Structuring of Work in School Groups

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