Twin Classroom Dilemma: To Study Together or Separately?статья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
Информация о цитировании статьи получена из
Web of Science,
Scopus
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 30 августа 2018 г.
Авторы:
White Elaine K.,
Gabrielle Garon-Carrier,
Tosto Maria G.,
Malykh Sergey B.,
Xinying Li,
BeatrixKiddle,
Lucy Riglin,
Brian Byrne,
Ginette Dionne,
Mara Brendgen,
Frank Vitaro,
Tremblay Richard E.,
Michel Boivin,
and Yulia Kovas
Аннотация:There is little research to date on the academic implications of teaching twins in the same or differentclassroom. Consequently, it is not clear whether twin classroom separation is associated with positive ornegative educational outcomes. As a result, parents and teachers have insufficient evidence to make awell-informed decision when twins start school. This study addresses two research questions: Are thereaverage positive or negative effects of classroom separation? Are twins taught in different classes moredifferent from each other than twins taught in the same class? Twin pairs from two large representativesamples from Quebec (Canada) and the United Kingdom were evaluated across a large age range (7 to16 years) on academic achievement, several cognitive abilities and motivational measures. Our resultsshow almost no sizable positive or negative average effect of classroom separation on twins’ achievement,cognitive ability and motivation. Twin pairs at age 12 (Quebec, Canada) and at age 16 (UnitedKingdom) were slightly more similar on achievement if placed in the same classroom, with slightly greater similarity among monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins. However, the few effects found wereweak, and it remains unclear whether they result from classroom separation or other factors. These resultssuggest that in terms of educational outcomes, policymakers should not impose rigid guidelines toseparate twin pairs during their education. The choice of whether to educate twin pairs together orseparately should be up to parents, twins and teachers, in response to twins’ individual needs.