A comparison of two methods of supervising students in descriptive geometry classes

Abstract

Purpose of the Research. The purpose of this research was to compare two methods of supervising students enrolled in college level descriptive geometry classes. The performance and attitudes of students working primarily on an individual basis were compared with the performance and attitudes of students who were encouraged to cooperate with each other in solving descriptive geometry problems. A comparison was also made of the attitudes of the instructors who participated in the experiment. Procedure of the Research. More than 35,000 samples were taken from 391 students who were enrolled in Engineering Design Graphics 106 at Texas A&M University during the spring semester of 1972. The students were randomly assigned to twelve sections; the control group consisted of 195 students, and the experimental group consisted of 196 students. Potential variables were either eliminated of controlled by the design of the study except for the methods of supervision. ...