REFUTATION : The role of student as a teacher in mixed ability classroom for

more effective learning.

i.

DETAILS
Counter - Argument #1 + Justification / Reason
(Why?/How?/Example/So what?):
Some studies conclude that grouping improves test
scores in students of all levels.

Some studies conclude that grouping improves test

scores in students of all levels. At Public School 156
in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the teacher, Cathy Vail
randomly sorts her fifth graders using lettered sticks
at the beginning of the year. After six weeks of
testing and observing them, she change her
strategies by putting them into group of seven or
eight.

ii.

Student may be assigned to different groups for

reading and math. They can switch their groups if
they have shown progress, struggle to get along
with other students in a group or need extra help
with a particular lesson. Ms. Vail uses thrice-yearly
reading assessments and a test before each math
unit to make sure children do not remain in groups
that are too advanced or too slow for them. She also
found that one student that year had moved up two
groups in both reading and math. This show that it
is an effective teaching and learning. She said that
It has to be done properly. You cant make a kid
feel small because theyre in group A, her lowestachieving group. She also said. If you dont have a
stigma attached to the group, then I dont see the
problem.
Counter Argument #2 + Justification/Reason
(Why?/How?/Example/So what?):
Some studies indicate that grouping ensure that
more advanced students do not make their less
advanced peers feel inadequate.

Some studies indicate that grouping ensure that

more advanced students do not make their less
advanced peers feel inadequate. It was once
common for elementary-school teachers to arrange
their classrooms by ability, placing the highestachieving students in one cluster, the lowest in
another. The mixed ability class trapped the
advance and lower level in a groups. This makes
their less advanced peers feel inadequate and stop

CITED SOURCES
http://www.nytimes.
com/2013/06/10/edu
cation/groupingstudents-by-abilityregains-favor-witheducators.html?_r=0
essay

http://www.nytimes.
com/2013/06/10/edu
cation/groupingstudents-by-abilityregains-favor-witheducators.html?_r=0
essay

iii.

iv.

progressing academically. Grouping prevent this

problem from occurring since student in a group
mostly at the same level of academic achievement.
So, there is no room for student to feel inadequate
or trapped on the same level.
CONCESSION
however People learn better and recall more
when they think they will soon need to teach the
material to someone else.
However, people learn better and recall more when
they think they will soon need to teach the material
to someone else.
Findings suggest that simply telling learners that
they would later teach another student changes
their mindset enough so that they engage in more
effective approaches to learning than did their peers
who simply expected a test.

Refutation + 1st Justification/Reason

(Why?/How?/Example/So what?):
It is an effective, inexpensive learning intervention.
They put themselves into the mindset of a teacher
causes them use more efficient learning strategies
such as organizing material, weighing the
importance of different concepts and focusing on
the main points.
John Nestojko, a researcher in psychology at
Washington University in St. Louis says that when
compared to learners expecting a test, learners
expecting to teach recalled more material correctly,
they organized their recall more effectively, and
they had better memory for especially important
information.
A study published in the journal Memory &
Cognition proved it. This study is based on a series
of reading and recall experiments. It is where one
group of students was told they will be tested on a
selection of written material. Meanwhile, the other
group was led to believe they need to prepare to
teach the passage to another student. In reality, all
participants were only tested. No one actually were
engaged in teaching. When both groups of students
were tested, those who had expected to teach but
never did produced 25 percent more correct
responses than those who were expecting a test.
Those expecting to teach also demonstrated more
ability to organize the passages information and
pull out the important facts and concepts.

http://www.futurity.o
rg/learning-studentsteaching-741342/
essay

http://www.uft.org/re
searchshows/benefitsstudents-teachingstudents

This study proved that people learn better and recall

more when they think they will soon need to teach
the material to someone else.
The researchers believe that making students teach
each other is an effective, inexpensive learning
intervention. The researchers theorized that when
students think they will have to teach, they put
themselves into the mindset of a teacher. That
mindset causes them to use more efficient learning
strategies, such as organizing material, weighing
the importance of different concepts and focusing
on the main points.
essay
v.

2nd Justification/Reason (Why?/How?/Example/So

what?):
Next, mixed ability classroom enhance teambuilding spirit and more supportive relationships.
It also produced greater psychological well-being,
social competence, communication skills and selfesteem and higher achievement and greater
productivity in terms of enhanced learning
outcomes.

http://www.opencoll
eges.edu.au/informe
d/features/peerteaching/

It has been proved in Peking University (PKU) in

Beijing. Specifically the Advanced Chinese Studies
programme, Intensive Chinese Language
programme, and Summer Intensive Chinese
Language programme at the university. The
students were required to meet for a minimum of
three hours per week for one-on-one sessions with
their Chinese language tutor. The Peer Language
Tutor programme at PKU is a unique hallmark of
these programmes that help ensure its students
linguistic and cultural fluency progresses throughout
the programme. These tutorials provide students
extra conversation practice in Mandarin and
guidance with homework assignments, while giving
students an opportunity to befriend and be a part of
the lives of their Chinese peers. Past students have
stated that their peer tutors were one of the
favourite aspects of the programme.
Despite the continued popularity of college student
peer tutoring, there exists little comprehensive
research on its effectiveness and benefits. What
research does exist, however, has found that peer
tutoring is highly cost-effective and usually results

essay

in substantial gains for participants, both

academically and socially.

VI. CONCLUSION
A. Concluding Sentences : In conclusion, to expose student to social reality,
to push student to excel & promotes cooperative learning as in line with
Islamic teachings are the three main reason that mixed ability classroom
should be implemented in Malaysian classroom.

i.

DETAILS
Summary of Main Points :
Mixed ability classroom consist more
motivation towards better learning
experiences.

CITED SOURCES

essay
ii.

Recommended Solution (s) :

Mixed ability classroom should be implemented
in Malaysian classroom with well trained
teachers.
Effective classroom management is based on a
learnable set of skills.
Mixed ability or single ability does not matter if
the classroom management is bad. This will
bring no benefit to the student. Student is the
client. They are the product of teaching and
learning. Teaching and learning will not happen
unless all the student senses are functioning
well. Student attention are important. Teacher
with good classroom management skill will
bring the mixed ability classroom to its full
potential. Mixed ability classroom have big
potential in succeeding the teaching and
learning progress.

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iii.

Personal Comment :
Teacher should be exposed to various type of
learning. This could bring new idea to make the
class interesting and more effective. The
important thing is the learning outcome is
achieved no matter what is the way. The world
itself is like a mixed ability classroom. We
survive if we work together. Live alone then
you will not survive. That is the real world.