Dex Busken Source 1

          Citation of source 1: Meeuwisse, Marieke, Sabine E. Severiens, and Marise Ph. Born. "Learning Environment, Interaction, Sense Of Belonging And Study Success In Ethnically Diverse Student Groups." Research In Higher Education 51.6 (2010): 528-545. ERIC. Web. 6 Oct. 2016.

Question: How does peer interaction in classrooms influence students ability to learn?

My Initial Thoughts: I have always heard that collaborative learning in classroom environments was beneficial to students. It is said to give students a chance to see different view points and thought processes from others to keep ones mind open to learning new things. I never really thought about working with groups impacting learning more than that, but during the reading it became obvious that there is much more than that. This article opened up new ways to see what other factors come into play with the research and tests done. The impacts are shown to be positive or negative but in some cases there was no impact and it can be seen to have more or less influence in ethnic minorities and ethnic majorities.

Step 2: So the general understanding that peer interaction correlates to particularly the advancement in communication skills within students is very narrow view. Collaborative learning is linked to the development of academic success. Rather than stopping the research there, the factors that play a role in this academic success are studied throughout this source. One of the key components studied is the ethnicity of the students and how each is impacted by the interactions that take place with the learning environment.

This source opened my mind up to many new ways that peer interaction can influence students ability to learn. I would have never thought that interaction within learning environments can have an impact on students study success. Learning environments that are activating can lead to a sense of belonging which therefore can influence ones studying. The article goes to explain how the majority ethnicity is influenced more by informal relationships with fellow students which furthers their academic progress as compared to the minority ethnicity which seemed to be less impacted and showed less progress from participating in these activities.