Educational expert Dr. Maria Santos has contended that cooperative learning settings, in which students collaborate within heterogeneous teams to exam...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Educational expert Dr. Maria Santos has contended that cooperative learning settings, in which students collaborate within heterogeneous teams to examine challenges, result in more profound comprehension compared to conventional competitive structures such as solo examinations or direct academic rivalries. Santos maintains that cooperative methods enable learners to enhance one another's concepts and cultivate more sophisticated reasoning, whereas competitive structures may restrict attention to merely achieving victory instead of genuine learning. To examine Santos's hypothesis, researchers created an investigation in which students acquired new content using one of three approaches: partnerships competing with one another to resolve challenges most rapidly, heterogeneous teams of four students collaborating to investigate solutions, or independent self-directed learning sessions.
Which result from the researchers' investigation, if accurate, would provide the strongest validation for Santos's hypothesis?
Typically, students in the heterogeneous teams exhibited superior material retention on subsequent evaluations compared to those in competitive partnerships or independent learning sessions.
Typically, students in competitive partnerships solved more challenges per session compared to those in heterogeneous teams.
Typically, students in independent learning sessions expressed greater confidence regarding their comprehension compared to those in heterogeneous teams.
Typically, students in heterogeneous teams expressed greater satisfaction with the learning experience compared to those in competitive partnerships.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Educational expert Dr. Maria Santos has contended that cooperative learning settings, in which students collaborate within heterogeneous teams to examine challenges, result in more profound comprehension compared to conventional competitive structures such as solo examinations or direct academic rivalries. |
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| Santos maintains that cooperative methods enable learners to enhance one another's concepts and cultivate more sophisticated reasoning, whereas competitive structures may restrict attention to merely achieving victory instead of genuine learning. |
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Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Dr. Santos believes cooperative learning in diverse teams produces better comprehension than competitive or individual approaches, and researchers designed a study to test this hypothesis.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Santos's hypothesis has two key components: cooperative learning leads to better comprehension, and this is superior to competitive approaches
- The strongest validation would need to show students in heterogeneous teams achieved better learning outcomes
- This was superior to both competitive partnerships and individual learning
- The measure should relate to actual comprehension or learning
Typically, students in the heterogeneous teams exhibited superior material retention on subsequent evaluations compared to those in competitive partnerships or independent learning sessions.
✓ Correct
- Shows heterogeneous teams had superior retention on subsequent evaluations
- Directly validates Santos's core claim about comprehension
- Retention measures actual learning effectiveness
Typically, students in competitive partnerships solved more challenges per session compared to those in heterogeneous teams.
✗ Incorrect
- Shows competitive partnerships solved more challenges per session
- Actually contradicts Santos's hypothesis
- Speed doesn't measure comprehension quality
Typically, students in independent learning sessions expressed greater confidence regarding their comprehension compared to those in heterogeneous teams.
✗ Incorrect
- Shows independent learners felt more confident
- Doesn't validate cooperative learning
- Confidence isn't the same as actual comprehension
Typically, students in heterogeneous teams expressed greater satisfaction with the learning experience compared to those in competitive partnerships.
✗ Incorrect
- Shows heterogeneous teams were more satisfied
- Satisfaction doesn't validate the core claim about comprehension