The Effect of Discussion-Based Learning Environment on Improving Moral-Social Decision-Making Skills: A Comparison between Modeling and Coaching Strategies

This study investigates the effect of teacher -supported discussion - based learning environment (modeling and coaching) on improving students' moral - social decision - making skills. Three sixth grade classes were selected, and were randomly assigned to experimental groups 1 (modeling strategy), experimental 2 (coaching strategy) and experimental groups 3 (blended strategy). Three learning environments were designed with the support of the teacher, called the discussion-based learning environment, and these educational supports were applied in the learning environments.After the pre - test, a six - week discussion - based learning unit on moral - social decision-making was implemented with modeling, coaching, or blended instructional supports. The data obtained from pre-test, post-test and application-test of decision-making skills were analyzed using a coding scheme designed based on the relevant research literature. Repeated measures analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the collected data. The results showed that students who received blended support in the discussion - based learning process performed better in terms of acquisition and applying decision-making skills as well as satisfaction than the other two conditions. Also, the students who were supported in the discussion process through modeling, performed better than the coaching group in acquisition and applying decision-making skills. The implications, limitation and suggestions for future research are discussed.