A Study Of Group Investigation In English Graduates Program

Group Investigation puts much emphasis on students’autonomous learning ability and they are given more control over their study. In graduate program, it highlights the cultivation of students’research ability and problem-solving ability. Therefore Group Investigation is suitable for students’educational objectives and their learning style as mature adults. However, there are few studies focusing on the Group Investigation in graduate program. This research aims to find out the strengths and weaknesses of using Group Investigation among graduate students by analyzing its implementation and the influence on students. At the end of the research, constructive suggestions are put forward.The research questions are as follows:1) What are the strengths of using Group Investigation? 2) Are there any weaknesses in the process of using Group Investigation in English graduate program? 3) What are the strategies for better implementing Group Investigation in graduate program? 95 graduate students were chosen as subjects with 59 M.A. candidates and 36 M.Ed, and M.T.I, candidates from English department. By using the instruments of questionnaire and interview, data were collected. The results were achieved with SPSS20.0. The research questions were answered on the basis of analyzing the results.The research results indicate that 1) Group Investigation can make significant positive differences in influencing students’interrelationship, sense of responsibility, independent thinking ability and cooperative ability.2) The weaknesses are that students’sense of achievement, self-confidence, and their time management skills cannot be effectively improved. In addition, students’individual difference is not considered.3) Group Investigation also has positive impact on promoting students’ study efficiency and the construction of new knowledge structure, enhancing learning motivation and strengthening students’problem-solving ability to some extent. However, the impact on these aspects is not positive enough. On the basis of analyzing the process of implementation, the author came up with the causes for it’s ineffective implementation. They lie in students’unclear understanding about the investigation objectives, low efficiency to organize group discussion and make decision, students’poor theoretical and inquiring foundation, teachers’insufficient aids, ineffective evaluation and inadequate personal guidance. For Group Investigation’s better implementation, six pieces of suggestion were put forward accordingly.1) Be clear about the investigation objectives, trigger students’interest and cultivate their inquiring motivation.2) Make regulation for group activities with the whole class beforehand.3) Build information exchange platform.4) Teach students necessary skills and strategies for investigation.5) Evaluation needs to be more specific to point out both advantages and disadvantages in details.6) Provide personal guidance for students who needs more help.