EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BASIC TECHNOLOGY
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EFFECT OF
COOPERATIVE LEARNING ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN
BASIC TECHNOLOGY
ABSTRACT
The study
was designed to explore the effect of cooperative learning on academic
achievement of 110 secondary education students toward the bacic technology
subject over the eight weeks of instruction at ONELGA rivers state. These
students were divided into two matched groups of 55 to be taught by the same
teacher. In the experimental group, cooperative learning was employed, while in
the control group, lecture-based teaching was used. The results showed that
after approximately 8 weeks students who were instructed using cooperative
learning achieved significantly higher scores on the achievement posttests than
did students who were instructed using lecture-based teaching. The study
supports the effectiveness of cooperative learning in secondary education. The
data were analyzed through t-test formula. Recommendation and further study as
suggested.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
Introduction
In order to
teach effectively, the teachers must have sufficient knowledge about the
students, in addition to the knowledge about the subject and appropriate
methods of teaching. Modern researcher indicates that if proper and suitable
methods and techniques are used, even the students of less intelligence can
easily learn. Modern researchers indicate four models of instruction that can
lead to high student achievement. These include Direct Instruction, Cooperative
Learning, Mastery Learning and Project-Based Instruction. (Sadker and
Sadker,1997). Cooperation is working together to accomplish shared goals within
cooperative situation, Individuals seek outcomes that are beneficial to
themselves and to all other group members. Cooperative learning is the instructional
use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and
each others learning (Johnson, Johnson &-Holubec, 1998). The terms group
learning and cooperative learning are often used as if they mean the same
thing. In fact, group work means several students working together and working
together does not necessarily involve corporation. Cooperative learning is an
arrangement in which students work in mixed ability groups and are rewarded on
the basis of the success of the group as a whole (Woolfolk, 2001).
Cooperative
learning activities are carefully structured learning activities in which
students are held accountable for their contribution, participation and
learning. Students are also provided incentives to work as team in teaching
others and learning from others (Slavin, 2000). Though cooperative learning
model is attracting worldwide attention of researchers in education, very few
studies could be found in the previous research literature relating to the
subject of social studies especially in Pakistan. The researcher could trace
only one study conducted by Hawkins et al (1998) who found cooperative learning
to be effective for teaching Social Studies to 8th class. This gap in knowledge
about usefulness or otherwise of this model of teaching needed to be bridged up
by further research at different levels of education.The purpose of the study
was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning on social studies
achievement among 8th class students. In this study, cooperative learning means
to work and learn in groups and obtain the results on the basis of group
performance.
1.1
Background of the Thesis
In recent
years, studies involving cooperative learning, one kind of student-centered
approach have emerged as an internationally important area of social science
research among researchers (Slavin, 2011). Many studies have been conducted in
different settings of education, using different kinds of cooperative learning
techniques. Such techniques are Learning Together (LT), Jigsaw Grouping,
Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT), Group Investigation (GI), Student Teams
Achievement Division (STAD), and Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI). A series
of research studies has found a appreciate relationship between the higher
cognitive and affective outcomes, and cooperative learning approaches (Johnson
& Johnson, 2005; Tran & Lewis, 2012a; Tran & Lewis, 2012b). In the
setting of Vietnamese higher education lecture-based teaching, one kind of
traditional approach has been still the most prevalent instructional approach
(MOET, 2009; Harman & Nguyen, 2010). In comparison with cooperative
learning techniques, lecture-based teaching has been reported to be less
effective to the demands of high rates of cognitive and affective outcomes
(Slavin, 2011). In order to improve students’ cognitive outcomes, an
alternative to lecture-based teaching could be cooperative learning (Tran &
Lewis, 2012a&b). This approach has been reported to improve students’
achievement, and their knowledge retention (Johnson & Johnson, 2009).
Cooperative
learning comprises “instructional methods in which teachers organize students
into small groups, which then work together to help one another learn academic
content” (Slavin, 2011, p.344). Cooperative learning consists of five basic
elements: positive interdependence, promotive interaction, individual
accountability, teaching of interpersonal and social skills, and quality of
group processing. Learning situations are not cooperative if students are
arranged into groups without positive interdependence (Johnson & Johnson,
2009). Positive interdependence means that in cooperative learning situations,
students are required to work together as a cohesive group to achieve shared
learning objectives (Yager, 2000). In the process, students must be responsible
for their own learning and for the success of other group members’ learning
(Slavin, 2011). In other words, students must ensure that other members in
their group complete the tasks and achieve the academic outcomes. The lesson
will not be cooperative if students do not “swim together” in the group
learning activities (Johnson & Johnson, 2008). Hence, positive
interdependence needs to be constructed in cooperative learning groups to help
students work and learn together. Positive interdependence results in
reciprocal interaction among individuals, which promotes each group member’s
productivity and achievement. Promotive interaction occurs as individuals
encourage and facilitate each other’s efforts to accomplish the group’s goals.
In cooperative learning groups, students are required to interact verbally with
one another on learning tasks (Johnson & Johnson, 2008). As part of the
cooperative learning condition, students are required to interact verbally with
one another on learning tasks (Johnson & Johnson, 2009), exchange opinions,
explain things, teach others and present their understanding (Johnson, 2009).
Individual responsibility means that students ask for assistance, do their best
work, present their ideas, learn as much as possible, take their tasks
seriously, help the group operate well, and take care of one another (Johnson,
2009). Positive interdependence is recognized to create “responsibility forces”
that increase the individual accountability of group members for accomplishing shared
work and facilitating other group members’ work (Johnson & Johnson, 2005).
If there is no individual accountability, one or two group members may do all
the work while others do nothing. If the achievement of the group depends on
the individual learning of each group member, then group members are motivated
to ensure that all group members master the material being studied (Slavin,
1996). When group accountability and individual accountability exist in the
group, the responsibility forces increase (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). In
reality, students cannot work effectively if socially unskilled students are
arranged into one group (Johnson & Johnson, 2006). If basic learning skills
on cooperative interaction are not taught, group members cannot work together
effectively to finish their tasks. Cooperative learning, compared with
individualistic or competitive learning, is more complex because it requires
students to engage in learning tasks and work together (Johnson & Johnson,
2005). Therefore, social and interpersonal skills, such as listening
attentively, questioning cooperatively and negotiating respectfully need be
taught, to help students cooperate effectively in the group. In addition, each
group member should know how to manage the group, how to make decisions and how
to solve conflicts that arise among group members. If these skills are not
taught, cooperative learning activities are rarely successful (Slavin, 1996).
To coordinate efforts to achieve mutual goals, participants must:
(a) get to
know and trust each other;
(b)
communicate accurately and unambiguously;
(c) accept
and support each other; and
(d) resolve
conflicts constructively (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). Group processing is
defined as reflecting on a group session to help students:
(1) describe
what member actions were helpful and unhelpful; and
(2) make
decisions about what actions to continue or change (Johnson & Johnson,
1999). Group processing helps improve the effectiveness of the members in
contributing to the shared efforts to achieve the group’s goals via reflection
on the learning process (Yamarik, 2007). In other words, the purpose of group
processing is to clarify and improve the effectiveness of the members in
contributing to the joint efforts to achieve the group’s goals.
In summary,
if these basic elements of cooperative learning are included in cooperative
learning groups, students achieve better, demonstrate superior learning skills
(Johnson & Johnson, 2008), and experience more positive relationships among
group members, and between students and the teacher, and more positive
self-esteem and attitudes toward the subject area (Slavin, 2011).
In all
levels of education students in cooperative situations achieved greater
academic, social and psychological benefits (Johnson & Johnson, 2005).
Specifically, cooperative learning has been reported to improve students’
academic achievement (Beck & Chizhik, 2008; Sousa, 2006; Zain, Subramaniam,
Rashid & Ghani, 2009). For example, one study of the Jigsaw II and GI
effect among 98 elementary school students in social studies, lasting 12 weeks
in America (Lampe, Rooze, & Tallent-Runnels, 1996), indicated that students
in the experimental group had higher academic achievement (p <.001) than
those in the control group (effect size [ES] = 0.84). Whicker, Nunnery, &
Bol (1997) compared the effects of STAD and traditional teaching methods on
academic performance of 11th and 12thgrade students in a mathematics course in
America. The results from the posttests showed that students in the cooperative
learning group achieved significantly (p <.05) higher posttest scores than
did students in the comparison group (ES = 0.87). Similarly, a two-group
experiment reported by Yamarik (2007), investigated the jigsaw effects on the
achievement of 116 Nigerian tertiary students in a 2-semester period. Results
obtained from multivariate regression analysis reveal that the jigsaw group
significantly outperformed the comparison group on the posttest scores (ES =
0.01). In a 5-week experimental study on science achievement of 68 eighth-grade
Turkish students (Kose, Sahin, Ergun, & Gezer, 2010), the results of
t-tests indicated that students in the treatment group significantly outscored
(p <.05) students in the control group on the post-achievement test (ES =
1.26). In addition, the other two experimental studies (Kilic, 2008; Doymus,
Karacon, & Simsek, 2010) utilized the pretest and posttest with control
group design to investigate the effects of jigsaw learning on student
achievement. The former was conducted with the participation of 80 Ghana
secondary students in a Principles and Methods of Teaching course over a 7-week
period.
With every
indication shown in the background, students perform better with cooperative
learning than they do with alternative forms of instruction in this study we
will also explore to see on students of basic technology at ONELGA Rivers
State, Nigeria.
1.2
Statement of Thesis Problem
The study of
basic technology introduce in the year 2007, by the Universal Basic Education
scheme, with a desire to achieve what could not be realized through
introductory technology. Most of the teachers of introductory technology and
other workshop staff are used to implement basic technology. According to James
Amobe, (2010), students cannot learn and archive new skills on one self,
knowledge share among mates and others are the basic of learning and achieving
greatly mostly in technological subjects, neither will the students develop
positive attitudes within his or her ability. Therefore the problem of this
study, is to ascertain the effects of cooperative learning on the academic
achievement of student in basic technology, which the researcher will conduct
and comparatively analyze the effects of cooperative learning after a
successful study on ONELGA Rivers State secondary school students in basic
technology.
1.3
Objectives of the Study
In summary,
this thesis is to study and analyze the effects of cooperative learning on
academic achievement of secondary students on basic technology, and to study
the correlation between cooperative learning and academic achievement. Other
research objectives are listed below as follows:
To expose
the experimental group to cooperative learning for teaching of basic technology
in secondary education.
To measure
the achievement of the cooperative learning group over the other method of
learning after teaching.
To find out
differences in achievement of experimental and control group.
To analyze
the difference in academic achievement of students in cooperative learning
group in basic technology and control group.
Find out
among the means learning, the one students appreciate more with understanding.
1.4
Significance of the Study
This thesis
will present in a precise manner, the importance of cooperative learning over
others in learning. It is believed that the findings of this research work
should provide detailed information on the effects of cooperative learning methods
in obtaining a high student achievements and performance. It is also expected
that the study will benefit teachers, basic technology students, researchers
and the society in general.
The findings
of the study should be useful to teachers. It is expected that the findings
will expose the basic technology teachers to the importance of teaching using
cooperative learning method other various method in place. By this exposure the
teachers could acknowledge the advantage cooperative learning over the conventional
learning method which is teacher centered. It is possible that by this outcome
the basic technology teachers would realistically adjust to the application of
cooperative learning in achieving greater goals in academic. In turn, the
students would have real focus for better performance and achievements in their
studies.
Subsequently,
it will go a long way to enhance the basic technology students’ effectiveness
in the society by being capable of carrying out what they have learned, thereby
contributing to the building up of the society at the local, national and
international levels.
The research
will also be beneficial to the researcher. This is because the study will
expose the researcher to so many related areas in the course of carrying out
his research. This will enhance the researcher’s experience, knowledge and
understanding on cooperative learning in teaching.
1.5 Research
Question
The research
work is guided with same research question, which will be administered and
distributed among the researchers area of study which are the respondents to
this research thesis and these comprise students and staff of basic technology
subject within the selected schools. Sample research question are:
What
teaching and learning methods are used frequently in basic technology among the
teachers of basic technology?
Is there any
significant different in you when you study cooperatively than other methods
within yourself based on the level of understand and comprehension?
What method
of learning do you appreciate and understand more when used?
1.6
Hypothesis
The
researcher formed some of the hypothesis which will be tested to support this
study. The hypothesis will be tested at 0.05 level of significance using the
t-test method and correlation analysis.
The research
hypothesis are as follows.
Hypothesis
1: Students who are taught by learning together will have greater achievement
in the basic technology than those taught through lecture-based teaching.
Hypothesis
2: There is significant correlation on cooperative learning and student
academic achievement.
1.7
Limitation of the Study
Due to time
constrain, this thesis should have covered a whole section of the student
academic study, but was shorten to a period of eight (8) weeks of study which
is for a term, also this research thesis is limited to the study of basic
technology subject of the JSS students in ONELGA Rivers State of Nigeria. The study
will be restricted to only schools (junior secondary school) where basic
technology are taught in ONELGA Rivers State which four schools are selected
from the eight schools which were found offering the subject basic technology.
1.8 Scope of
the Study
This thesis
will cover four schools purposively selected for the course of this thesis from
ONELGA, Rivers State, Nigeria and this study is on effect of cooperative
learning on academic achievement of secondary school students in basic
technology.
1.9
Definition of Terms
Cooperative
learning: Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small
teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of
learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject.
Academic
achievement: Academic achievement refers to a student's success in meeting
short- or long-term goals in education. In the big picture, academic
achievement means completing high school or earning a college degree. In a
given semester, high academic achievement may mean a student is on the honor
roll.
Conventional
Learning: Often the focus of learning in conventional approaches is giving
students a lecture or an article to read and then set standardized questions
based upon the information given. The expected solutions to the questions are
usually limited to the information given to students. Typically then, solutions
are pre-determined by the teacher and are linked to narrowly set
context-specific learning objectives.
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