An Exploratory Study on Using the Think-Pair-Share Cooperative Learning Strategy

To develop primary students’ skills of thinking and promote cooperative learning, the strategy of “Think-Pair-Share”, suggested by Lyman [1], was adopted in this exploratory study to enhance the learning effectiveness in solving monthly challenging problems in mathematics. Four classes in Grade 3, 4 and 6 were selected to participate in this study. Students first thought and worked independently about the monthly challenging problems and wrote down their thoughts; then they paired up to talk about their answers and decided the answer that they thought was the best; finally they shared their decisions by presenting to the whole class. Accuracy of students’ monthly challenge problem was checked before and after the process of Think-Pair-Share. Lesson observation, questionnaire and group interview were also employed to investigate students’ learning processes and identify the factors that impact on the learning effectiveness of applying this strategy. Data analysis suggested that students’ learning outcomes improved significantly from this strategy of “Think-Pair-Share”. The new cooperative learning grouping and organization provided students opportunity and time for them to think and understand the question. Students paired up to discuss and clarify the problem and solution, and to present and explain the answer to their peers. Students were more actively involved and motivated in the process of problem solving. The cooperative learning promoted by this strategy helped to lower the anxiety of students in solving the difficult mathematics problems, especially of those students with lower level of achievement in mathematics. This study intends to obtain insights into understanding and developing students’ learning experiences of using this strategy of “Think-Pair-Share” in a primary school in Hong Kong.