Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students
Social relationships are pivotal for human beings. Yet, we still lack a complete understanding of the types and conditions of social relationships that facilitate learning among children. Here, we present the results of a study involving 855 elementary school children from 14 different public school...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022032042 |
| _version_ | 1828071367609679872 |
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| author | Cristian Candia Melanie Oyarzún Victor Landaeta T. Yaikin Cecilia Monge César Hidalgo Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert |
| author_facet | Cristian Candia Melanie Oyarzún Victor Landaeta T. Yaikin Cecilia Monge César Hidalgo Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert |
| author_sort | Cristian Candia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social relationships are pivotal for human beings. Yet, we still lack a complete understanding of the types and conditions of social relationships that facilitate learning among children. Here, we present the results of a study involving 855 elementary school children from 14 different public schools in Chile designed to understand their social learning strategies in classrooms. We mapped students' social relationships using a behavioral experiment–a non-anonymous social dilemma–that allows us to measure cooperation and infer reciprocal and asymmetrical relationships between peers. We implemented the experiment synchronously in each classroom using networked tablets and a friendly user interface to mitigate cognitive barriers and boost students' engagement. Using regression models, we found a positive and significant association between reciprocity and academic performance. This result holds after controlling for class attendance, sex, parents’ education, social status, individual cooperative dispositions, and fixed effects per class group. Finally, using a difference-in-difference framework, we found robust evidence that reciprocity heightens academic performance by comparing two consecutive academic semesters. This effect is heterogeneous and is considerably more prominent for the top 20% students experiencing higher levels of reciprocity in their social relationships. We expect these results to inform cooperative learning interventions in elementary education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:52:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-833b2508dd774c9cab1a81ad0b55e8d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:52:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-833b2508dd774c9cab1a81ad0b55e8d12023-01-05T08:37:25ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402022-12-01812e11916Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school studentsCristian Candia0Melanie Oyarzún1Victor Landaeta2T. Yaikin3Cecilia Monge4César Hidalgo5Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert6Data Science Institute, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Las Condes, 7610658, Chile; Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; Corresponding author.Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social (CICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, ChileData Science Institute, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Las Condes, 7610658, ChileCentro de Investigación en Complejidad Social (CICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, ChileFeedback Communications, Vitacura, ChileANITI Chair, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, USACentro de Investigación en Complejidad Social (CICS), Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, ChileSocial relationships are pivotal for human beings. Yet, we still lack a complete understanding of the types and conditions of social relationships that facilitate learning among children. Here, we present the results of a study involving 855 elementary school children from 14 different public schools in Chile designed to understand their social learning strategies in classrooms. We mapped students' social relationships using a behavioral experiment–a non-anonymous social dilemma–that allows us to measure cooperation and infer reciprocal and asymmetrical relationships between peers. We implemented the experiment synchronously in each classroom using networked tablets and a friendly user interface to mitigate cognitive barriers and boost students' engagement. Using regression models, we found a positive and significant association between reciprocity and academic performance. This result holds after controlling for class attendance, sex, parents’ education, social status, individual cooperative dispositions, and fixed effects per class group. Finally, using a difference-in-difference framework, we found robust evidence that reciprocity heightens academic performance by comparing two consecutive academic semesters. This effect is heterogeneous and is considerably more prominent for the top 20% students experiencing higher levels of reciprocity in their social relationships. We expect these results to inform cooperative learning interventions in elementary education.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022032042Academic performancePeer interactionPrimary educationReciprocityNonanonymous social dilemmaExperimental game theory |
| spellingShingle | Cristian Candia Melanie Oyarzún Victor Landaeta T. Yaikin Cecilia Monge César Hidalgo Carlos Rodriguez-Sickert Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students Heliyon Academic performance Peer interaction Primary education Reciprocity Nonanonymous social dilemma Experimental game theory |
| title | Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| title_full | Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| title_fullStr | Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| title_short | Reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| title_sort | reciprocity heightens academic performance in elementary school students |
| topic | Academic performance Peer interaction Primary education Reciprocity Nonanonymous social dilemma Experimental game theory |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022032042 |
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