Generative Teaching: An Enhancement Strategy for the Learning of Economics in Cooperative Groups

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to increase the learning of economics among lower socioeconomic level public high school students by teaching them to use generative comprehension procedures in their economics classes’ cooperative learning groups. In a randomly assigned two-treatment design, it was predicted and found that generative learning procedures in cooperative learning classes increased (p < . 0001) the learning of economics by sizable amounts compared with a control procedure that used only cooperative learning methods and that produced smaller increases. Students’ confidence in the correctness of their answers increased (p < . 0001), and the level of misinformation decreased (p < . 0001) as a result of generative teaching procedures. These facilitative effects of generative teaching occurred for both males and females.