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The expression and level of psychological difficulties in group learning stages of pedagogical students under the credit based system.. Practical contributions The research results of t

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

LE MINH

PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES

IN GROUP LEARNING UNDER THE CREDIT BASED

SYSTEM OF PEDAGOGICAL STUDENTS

Major : Psychology Code : 9.31.04.01

SUMMARY OF PHD DISSERTATION ON PSYCHOLOGY

Hanoi - 2019

The dissertation is completed at GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Scientific Instructor:

Assoc Prof NGUYEN THI THANH BINH

Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Phan Trong Ngo

Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof Tran Thu Huong

Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof Dang Thanh Nga

The Dissertation is defended at The Dissertation Review Council of

The Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

At…., on…… , 20…

Further information on the Dissertation can be found at:

- National Library of Vietnam

- Library of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

INTRODUCTION

1 The urgency of the research topic

Group learning is increasingly employed in universities around the world and in Vietnam This learning activity promotes active learning, self-control learning and increases the adaptability of the learners in dealing with problems Group learning is a tool to develop deep learning skills in a wide range of learning branches and environments; promote cooperation (cooperative learning, peer learning / teaching, peer-to-peer learning) to enable students to learn

together in an effective way Vietnamese culture emphasizes the ideas “A young

ox learns to plow from an older one” but still appreciates the thought of “peers make better teachers” This view highly appreciates the subjectivity of learners

making the lifetime learning more realistic In a broad sense, it encourages and enhances the collaboration and team work throughout the life of the learners Currently, with the tendency to transfer university training from academic year system to the credit based system, university program must satisfy three principles of democracy, massification and active teaching: Aiming at the idea of subjective centered learners Therefore, many universities in Vietnam, including the pedagogical universities, have been paying more and more attention to the innovation of learning methods in the trend that helps learners learn more and remember longer while actively learning through group cooperation

During the time learning and training at the universities, students in general and pedagogical students in particular manifest they fact that they have knowledge and competence to solve problems, to work creatively and to prove their critical thinking, etc but also lack many soft skills necessary for learning One of the weaknesses that hinders the process of studying under the credit based system of students is the lack of collaborative skills heading to the difficulties in group learning Particularly, in the context of reforming the general education program, the method of teaching and learning in general schools will follow the instructional orientation through active learning of the learners, in which cooperative teaching and learning are mentioned The Article 28 of the Education Law in 2005 also emphasized the need to foster student’s ability to work in

groups: “The method of general education, must promote the positivity, consciousness, proactivity and creation of the students that suitable to the characteristics of each class and subject; must foster the self-study methods, teamwork ability; training skills to apply knowledge into practice; must insert influences on emotions and bring joy as well as interest in learning for students”

self-But the reality shows that, pedagogical students have encountered many difficulties and limitations with group learning from cognition to attitudes and skills

Currently, in Vietnam, a number of psychological topics mainly survey group collaboration skills, adaptive issues with group learning, only a few authors mention the difficulties in group learning at some subjects of students and high

school pupils There have been a few research projects mentioning the psychological difficulties in group learning; but not specifically defined how the psychological difficulties in group learning express The group learning activities

of students are taking place in many different stages, so do the psychological difficulties express in different way at each stage? Is there a difference in psychological difficulties in the criteria of school, majors or learning capacity among students? All of these issues are still left open, there have had no further studies or survey or investigation

Stemming from the above reasons, we chose to study the topic:

“Psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students.”

2 Research purposes and research tasks of the dissertation

2.1 Research purposes

Researching the theory and reality of psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students; on that basis, proposing remedial measures for psychological difficulties group learning of students of pedagogical students

Surveying and evaluating the reality of psychological difficulty level in group learning of the pedagogical students in Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi Metropolitan University, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and factors affecting the psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students

Organizing pedagogical experiment aiming at overcoming and limiting psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students

3 Research subjects and scope of the dissertation

3.1 Research subjects

The expression and level of psychological difficulties in group learning stages of pedagogical students under the credit based system

3.2 Research scope

3.2.1 In term of research content

+ The research project of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

+ The research content focuses on the expressions of psychological difficulties in group learning such as awareness, attitude and behavior; these expressions are reviewed in the group learning stages of pedagogical students + Considering some subjective and objective factors that affect psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students

3.2.2 In term of research population

Studying 540 students and 18 lecturers of the pedagogical universities including Hanoi University of Education, Hanoi Metropolitan University, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

4 Methodology and research methods of the dissertation

5 Innovative scientific contributions of the dissertation

5.1 Theoretical contributions

The dissertation has built up a relatively reasoning system on psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system from concepts to expressions and influencing factors This problem has not been studied in depth and in system throughout Vietnam The research results are also the theoretical basis for the further studies on the topics of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students in our country today

5.2 Practical contributions

The research results of the reality of psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system shows that: psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students are at difficult level, the pedagogical students encounter difficulty the most in behavior and the least in the attitude In the four stages of group learning, pedagogical students meet the biggest psychological difficulties at the stage of establishing learning groups and the least ones at the class discussion period

The research results of the dissertation contribute to the creation of a scientific basis in developing training and remedial program for the psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based of pedagogical students

6 The theoretical and practical significance of the dissertation

6.1 Theoretical significance

The dissertation has systematized and identified a number of basic theoretical issues about psychological difficulties, psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system Among the issues, the dissertation has built a new concept of psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system The dissertation further points out the expressions in three aspects of awareness,

attitude, behavior of psychological difficulties in each stage of group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system

The research results of the dissertation contribute to the clarification of the theories on group learning psychology and pedagogical psychology at university

6.2 Practical significance

The dissertation has clarified the reality and the level of psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system by analyzing the level of specific expression of psychological difficulties

in three aspects of awareness, attitude and behavior in each stage of group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system The indicators for school groups, majors, academic years, learning capacity are analyzed and compared to show the differences The dissertation has pointed out the level of influence of a number of subjective and objective factors on psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students under the credit based system The experiments show appropriate impacts that bringing positive effects

On that basis, some recommendations for pedagogical universities, teacher training faculties and support lecturers organize and instruct group learning to pedagogical students under credit based system and further help them limit some psychological difficulties in group learning

The conclusions of the dissertation also help managers of pedagogical schools and pedagogical faculties, lecturers obtain more suitable and effective management and teaching methods, enable pedagogical students to limit the psychological difficulties in group learning

The research results of the dissertation can also be considered as a suggestion for the next research directions such as the study of psychological difficulties in group learning for those students in the role of leaders; student’s skills to build learning groups; critical thinking in learning group; group learning motivation of the students, etc

7 Structure of the dissertation:

In addition to the introduction, conclusions and recommendations, the index of references and appendices, the dissertation consist of 4 chapters: Chapter 1: An overview on researching psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students; Chapter 2: The arguments of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students; Chapter 3: Research Organization and Methods; Chapter 4: Research results of the reality of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

CHAPTER 1

AN OVERVIEW ON RESEARCHING PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES IN GROUP LEARNING UNDER THE CREDIT BASED

SYSTEM OF PEDAGOGICAL STUDENTS

1 Studies on psychological difficulties in group learning

Studies on psychological difficulties in learning in children can be found in the works of such authors as Bianka Zazzo, A.V Petropxki, Sheldon Horowitz (2005), Murray Evely and Zoe Ganim (2011) According to these authors, psychological difficulties in learning in children caused by the following reasons: The change of operating environment, called the transformation of primary activities, from playing and freedom to learning activities; the biological defects in knowledge acquisition; anxiety in learning and fear of learning

The studies by Ballard and Clanchy (1985); Bob Smale, Julie Fowlie (2009) aimed at psychological difficulties in learning in students These authors argue that students encountered many difficulties in adapting to the new learning environment such as learning methods, learning ways, learning culture, language use Particularly the students who studied abroad experienced culture shock and found themselves unable to adapt and integrate with the group; afraid to communicate with strangers; stressful with a great amount of knowledge; unable to establish effective learning at university level

Referring to the studies on difficulties in learning in general, it is a must to mention the book Peak Learning (1999) by Ronald Gross where he pointed out the common fears or psychological difficulties found in learners such as difficulties in acquiring knowledge and difficulties in choosing learning methods Ronald Gross argued that all learners can be classified into one of three study areas:

Overburdened area: finding hard and uncontrollable in learning, learners encounter

a lot of psychological difficulties Refreshing area: Learning is challenging but

manageable, learners do not meet psychological difficulties in learning activities

The do-nothing area: The study is boring, slow and tired, the learners meet

psychological difficulties because they have neither awareness of the importance, nor positive attitudes, nor study skills

The studies of psychological difficulties in learning in Vietnam mainly focuses on the problem of the first-grade pupils at primary schools and first-year students at College and University

Name of some authors who have studied on the psychological difficulties in learning are as follows: Nguyen Xuan Thuc, Dao Thi Lan Huong (2007); Do Thi Hanh Phuc and Trieu Thi Huong (2007); Dang Thi Lan (2007) (2015); Do Van Dat and Nguyen Thi Bich Lien (2017) The studies of these authors confirm:

First-year students encounter quite a lot of psychological difficulties in learning, some studies have been concerned about how these students deal with these difficulties, the study of Do Van Do shows that 100% of pedagogical students have difficulties in learning under the credit based system at different levels

The studies of psychological difficulties in learning of the author Dang Thi Lan focuses mainly on difficulties in learning foreign languages, the author has tried to clarify the level and expression of difficulties in learning foreign languages

of students in terms of awareness, attitude and behavior

According to Do Van Dat and Nguyen Thi Bich Lien, there are many reasons leading to student’s psychological difficulties in learning, and the main causes are from the issues that: Students are not equipped with credit-based study skills, students do not understand clearly about their difficulties and how to cope with difficulties in credit-based learning

Nguyen Khac Vien, Nguyen Thi Nhat, Nguyen Ke Hao, Mac Van Trang,

Vu Ngoc Ha, Nguyen Thi Vui, etc are the authors having studies on elementary pupils These authors mainly study some difficulties while preparing for children

to enter grade 1 and the psychological difficulties of first-grade pupils

All of the above studies have been carried out in different subjects but share the common approach to psychological difficulties in learning in three expressions

of awareness, attitude and behavior or in two expressions of attitude and behavior The studies all identified the expressions of psychological difficulties and measured the level of expressions as well as the factors affecting those psychological difficulties In addition to the psychological difficulties foreign language learning and Vietnamese language learning, the remaining studies focused exploiting psychological difficulties in general learning of both pupils and students

2 Studies on group discussions and group learning

In the world, the studies on group discussion and group learning have attracted the attention of many educational institutions such as the National Institute for Applied Behavioral Science of America, the Commission for Education Training and Development of America; and together with the interest of lots of scholars, educational experts such as Allport, Watson, Shaw and Mead, May and Doob; philosophers and psychologists such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Morton Deutsh and Tuckman, a research experts on group dynamics

At the end of the 20th and 21st century, it’s necessary to mention the following authors: Spencer Kagan, the specialist in researching group learning according to approach to structure; David and Roger Johnson, the first two authors who have the careful study on the dependence with a learning group; Larry K Michaelsen, the father of the TBL method (group-based learning); Rachel E Stein, Corey J Colyer, Jason Manning (2016); Parto S.Khansari, Leanne Coyne (2018) Basically, the research directions focus on producing the process of group learning, considering the effectiveness of discussion and group learning in students and students; Testing according groups and discussion comparison and considering group learning as a positive learning method in comparison to other learning methods Most of the above authors have found the comparison between group learning and individual learning showing collaboration has always created more effective working and learning results However, they also admit that more

difficulties and obstacles appearing in group learning hinder the cooperation and sometimes personal work seems to be more effective

The transformation of teaching toward the student-centered method during the past time has increased the numbers of studies on group learning in Vietnam since this is considered one of the most active learning methods that helps promote

in maximum the initiative of the learners Some educational experts having interest

in the theoretical issues about group learning are: Nguyen Ngoc Bao, Tran Kieu, Dang Thanh Hung, Nguyen Huu Chau, Thai Duy Tuyen

Some recent practical studies on group learning are mostly coming from the Education and Psychology dissertations of such the authors as : Tran Thi Thu Mai, Tran Duy Hung, Nguyen Thanh Kinh (2010), Truong Thi Thu Yen ( 2012), Nguyen Thi Quynh Phuong (2012), Nguyen Thi Thuy Hanh (2012), Nguyen Thi Thanh (2013) These authors mainly researches the group learning skills, process for training group learning skills, process of group teaching and learning In addition, there are research projects on the application of the group learning in teaching and learning such subjects as foreign languages, chemistry, physics, history and biology These studies focus on proposing group teaching process, providing measures to improve collaborative learning effectiveness and pointing out some common difficulties in group learning, for example reducing the independence, group learning disapproval by many pupils, no adaption to the cooperative learning, increasing tend to the dependence of pupils while joining group learning

In conclusion, the studies on group learning in Vietnam and around the world, mainly research the effectiveness that group learning brings to learners, the process of group learning skills and the process of group learning in class Here found a few studies on the limitations of group learning

3 The psychological difficulties during group working and group learning

Around the world, psychological difficulty is an issue attracting many authors’ interest in many different fields such as group learning, working, business, etc but the studies on group learning has researched in depth the expressions in psychological difficulties as well as the level and factors affecting psychological difficulties in group learning Only the author John C Maxwell mentions the expressions in psychological difficulties in terms of awareness, attitude and skills in group working, the other authors mainly focus on the attitude, behavior and solutions for resolving the difficulties in behavior and teamwork skills

In Vietnam, the studies mentioning psychological difficulties in group working and group learning are named as follows:

“Group leadership study in business management in the aspect of social psychology|” by Vu Dung (1993), “Group cohesion in the official small group of students” by Nguyen Duc Son (2009), “Study the limitations of group activities in English classes” by Le Pham Hoai Huong (2009), “The reality causing inefficient

group work of the first-year students of Dong Nai University” by Phan Thi Hong

Ha (2017), “Skills for coping with psychological difficulties in learning under the credit based system of students of University of Technology and Education” by Phan Thi Tam (2017)

Some aspects of psychological difficulties in group learning, the cause of these above mentioned works can be drawn as follows: The group has not shown the positive as a true subject in the activities, group activities are inadequate as members don’t in engage their full participation, the cooperative spirit is low as the members do not collaborate and help each other; disputes and conflicts are not been resolved as the members lack of enthusiasm; there is little agreement on ideas as some members are inferior while others do not contribute their ideas; the task is not fairly assigned

Subjective causes from students are as follow: incorrect and incomplete awareness about groups; negative attitude and behavior of group working (lack of responsibility, cooperation but full of laziness and passivity) are the basic causes of poor working group Furthermore, there are some objective reasons such as: The group does not set up the principles for group working; there is no clear assignment; the team leader imposes his/her opinions on others while working together

Thus, the issue of psychological difficulties in learning, cooperative skills, teamwork skills are interested and researched by many authors, but these issues are independently studied; There have not any topics to study on psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students Therefore, with this dissertation, we focus on researching some psychological difficulties, the expressions of psychological difficulties in the credit based system of pedagogical students and figure out the factors affecting those psychological difficulties

as the cohesion in groups, awareness and attitude about group learning, lack of group learning skills, response to psychological difficulties in group learning Currently, there are few research projects on the psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students Among the few studies in Vietnam referring to psychological difficulties in group learning, there haven’t found any studies indicated clearly the expressions, the level of psychological difficulties in the group learning as well as the factors affecting the psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system

CHAPTER 2 THEORIES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES IN GROUP LEARNING UNDER THE CREDIT BASED SYSTEM OF

PEDAGOGICAL STUDENTS 2.1 Theories on psychological difficulties

2.1.1 The concept of difficulties

Difficulties are obstacles that arise in the process where people performing a certain activity

2.1.2 The concept of psychological difficulties

Psychological difficulties are shortages and limitations in awareness, attitudes and behaviors that make individuals difficult and harsh to perform a certain activity

2.2 Group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

2.2.1 Group learning

Group learning is a form of group learning activity where learners are responsible for self-learning, sharing and helping other members to complete the learning tasks of the group

2.2.2 Credit based system

2.2.2.1 The concept of credit system

Credit-based system is a form of training in which students actively choose

the subject to study (complying with predetermined constraints) or each block of knowledge - modules, certificates to accumulate and complete the entire program

of a training course to be granted a diploma

2.2.3 Group learning under credit based system

2.2.3.1 The concept of group learning under credit based system

Based on the concept of group learning and credit based system, we come

to the concept of group learning under credit based system as follows:

“Group learning under credit based system is a form of group learning activity where learners are responsible for self-learning, sharing and helping other members to complete the learning tasks of the group for the purpose of accumulating enough credits for a module”

2.2.3.2 The process of group learning under credit based system

Based on the survey of the theoretical contents of the process of group learning as well as through the observation documents of group learning sessions and interviews with lecturers at Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and Hanoi Metropolitan University, we come to the consideration that : group learning activities in these pedagogical universities mainly takes place under the management and requirements of teachers; including the previous stage of discussion: Lecturers ask questions, provide discussion topics; students form groups and assign learning tasks; discussion

stage in the group; class discussion stage In summary, through what we have studied and observed, we believe that group learning under the current credit based system of pedagogical students is often organized into 4 learning stages:

The stage of setting up and building learning group, the stage of assigning and receiving learning tasks, the stage of group discussion, and the stage of class discussion

We rely on the above four stages of the group learning to identify the expressions, the level of psychological difficulties in all three aspects of awareness, attitude and behavior in each stage of group learning of pedagogical students

2.3 Psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

2.3.1 The concept of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

Through studying the basic concepts of the topic, we conceive: The psychological difficulties in group learning under credit based system of pedagogical students is the limitation, the lack of awareness, attitude and behavior when students perform the responsibility of self-learning, sharing and helping other members to complete the tasks of the group These difficulties express specifically in establishing and building learning groups; assigning and receiving learning tasks; group discussions and class discussions that students need to overcome for the purpose of accumulating enough academic credits of a module

2.3.2 Expressions of psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

Through teaching activities, applying group learning forms as well as observing, investigating and consulting experts; we care about psychological difficulties in aspects of: Awareness, attitude and behavior of pedagogical students in group learning; we, moreover, focus on exploiting the limitations and shortcomings of these expressions

The psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students are considered in the four stages of group learning of pedagogical students: setting up and building learning groups; assigning and receiving learning tasks; group discussion and class discussion All of these four stages, psychological difficulties in group learning are expressed in three aspects: awareness, attitude and behavior; at different stages, the expressions of in these three aspects are different from each other

2.4 Some psychological characteristics of students affecting psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system

The psychological characteristics of pedagogical students affecting psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system are as

follows: Awareness, personality, self-awareness and learning motivation and value orientation

2.5 Factors affecting psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

2.5.1 Objective factors

The objective factors that affect psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students include: The organization and evaluation of the results of group learning from lecturers; the organization of group learning by the leader; class characteristics; learning materials and content

2.5.2 Subjective factors

The subjective factors that affect psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students include: the motivation of group learning, the positivity of group learning, group learning skills

Sub-conclusion of chapter 2

The study identified basic theoretical issues as a basis for practical research The dissertation has built the concept of the tools: psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students

The psychological difficulties in group learning under the credit based system of pedagogical students manifest in three aspects: Awareness, attitude and behavior Those psychological difficulties are considered in the four stages of group learning of pedagogical students: establishing and building learning groups; assigning and receiving learning tasks; group discussions and class discussions

The psychological difficulties in group learning of pedagogical students are influenced by both objective and subjective factors The subjective factors include: the motivation of group learning, the positivity of group learning, group learning skills and the objective factors include lecturers, group leaders, class characteristics; learning materials and content

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH ORGANIZATION AND METHOD

3.1 Research organization

We carry out the research from April 2015 to April 2018, the dissertation

is studied in the two main stages: The stage of theoretical research and the stage

of practical research

3.2 Research Methods

3.2.1 Methods of researching documents and materials