Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning

Approach in Developing Critical Thinking

Skills of Secondary Students

Evangeline Quines

Abstract This study identified the effectiveness of cooperative learning approach

in developing critical thinking skills of secondary students. The study involved 115
second-year level students as subjects. All the subjects were taught lessons using
the lecture discussion method and cooperative learning approach alternately. The
pseudo-experimental method utilizing the repeated measures design was used in the
study. Correlation t-test was used to compare the mean scores on the pretest/posttest
of achievement tests and attitudinal inventory scale tests, and Pearson moment
correlation was used to determine the correlation between the mean scores on
achievement and attitude of students. The study found out that there is a significant
improvement in the critical thinking skills of students taught with the use of lecture
discussion method and cooperative learning approach. The gain scores between the
two groups do not significantly differ during the first three weeks; however, the
cooperative learning approach has significantly improved the critical thinking skills
of the students on the fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks, respectively. The cooperative
learning attitude gain scores are higher than the lecture discussion method attitude
gain scores. Lecture discussion method is not significantly related to critical
thinking scores, while cooperative learning approach is significantly related to
critical thinking scores.

Keywords Cooperative learning approach
Critical thinking skills
Lecture

discussion method

E. Quines (&)
Department of Education Region 02, Andarayan National High School,
3503 Andarayan, Solana, Cagayan Valley, Republic of the Philippines
e-mail: quines_aguirre@yahoo.com.ph

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 115

G.B. Teh and S.C. Choy (eds.), Empowering 21st Century Learners Through
Holistic and Enterprising Learning, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4241-6_12
116 E. Quines

Introduction

The English language has a special place in the world today. It is becoming the
most important international language for oral interaction in academic circles,
economic and business transactions, and international diplomacy. It is also the
major international language of printed information. As a tool for empowerment,
Remonde (2003) points out that English language can be used as an instrument for
membership in the international community, for modernization and economic
prosperity. This goal of attaining global competitiveness is achieved through the
knowledge in using the English language proficiently.
Teachers in the twenty-first century must be inquisitive to select appropriate
teaching strategies designed to answer the academic needs of students, especially in
the development of critical thinking skills which Paul (1999) defines as the intel-
lectual process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from observation, experience,
reflection, reasoning ,or communication as a guide to belief and action.
One of the promising approaches which teachers could employ in their language
instruction in the development of critical thinking skills is cooperative learning. In
cooperative learning, the teachers have roles in structuring learning situations
cooperatively such as specifying the objectives for the lesson, placing the students
in productive learning groups, and providing appropriate materials, explaining the
cooperative goal structure, monitoring students as they work, and evaluating stu-
dent’s performance. It is in this context that the researcher, being an English tea-
cher, is interested to find out the effects of cooperative learning approach in
developing critical thinking skills among secondary school students.

Cooperative Learning and Lecture Discussion Method

Cooperative learning works equally well with children who have highly developed
responsibility skills or with children who need to learn to work together. Kagan
(1990) states that cooperative learning structures are content-free ways of orga-
nizing social interaction in the classroom. He also stresses that in cooperative
learning, group work is carefully designed to promote group interdependence and
individual responsibility. It provides a chance for skill learning while at the same
time teaching responsibility.
Newby et al. (2006) emphasize that cooperative learning shall involve small
groups of students working together to learn collaborative and social skills while
working toward a common academic goal or task. This method is specially
designed to encourage students to work together, drawing on their individual
experiences, skills, and levels of motivation to help each other achieve the desired
result.
Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach … 117

Cooperation and interaction allow students to learn from several sources, not just
from the teacher, while also providing each student the opportunities to share their
own abilities and knowledge. Norton and Wiburge (2003) assert that cooperative
learning requires positive interdependence where each member of the group is
actively involved and committed to the group’s success.
Lecture Discussion Method focuses on the ability of the teacher to share lesson
prepared where students are required to listen and jot down notes based on the
presentation of the teacher. Students are asked to respond to questions asked during
the discussions and answer the tests given at the end of the lesson. Learners have
limited opportunity to share ideas and inquire some doubts on topics being
discussed.

Critical Thinking Skills and Cooperative Learning

According to Facione (1992) critical thinking is a purposeful, self-regulatory

judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well
as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or
contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. Also, Scriven and
Paul (1992) define critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of
actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience,
reflection, reasoning, or communication as a guide to belief and action.
The need to develop critical thinking is indispensable, especially in this
fast-paced world. Students should be equipped with the necessary skills that make
them wise and responsible citizens who contribute to society, and not be merely a
consumer of society’s distractions. According to Huitt (1992), the movement to the
information age has focused attention on good thinking as an important element of
life’s success. These changing conditions require new outcomes, such as critical
thinking to be included as a focus of schooling.

Research Problem

The teaching and learning process is a two-way process or a “give and take”
process which involves the teaching as the stimulus and learning as the response.
The learner learns if he/she reacts to his/her environment (stimuli). Lardizabal
(1991) pointed out that what the student learns depends on what the teacher does.
This means that the facilitator of learning is the teacher who provides the conditions
for effective learning and who seeks to meet the needs, goals, and interest of the
learners.
Cooperative learning is one of the better researched instructional strategies that
existed, and the results of this research indicated that cooperative learning produces
118 E. Quines

cognitive, affective, and interpersonal benefits. According to Johnson and Johnson

(1994) and Slavin (1995), when cooperative learning strategies are implemented
effectively, these can improve students’ achievement more than traditional
approaches to instruction, both on teacher-made and standardized tests. These
improvements resulted from increased student motivation, greater time in task, and
active involvement.
It is in this context that this study would like to study and examine the effec-
tiveness of cooperative learning in developing critical thinking skills of students.

Research Objectives

Generally, this study aimed to identify the effectiveness of cooperative learning

approach in developing the critical thinking skills of students. Specifically, it sought
to answer the following questions:
1. How effective is cooperative learning approach in developing the critical
thinking skills of students as compared to the traditional lecture discussion
method?
2. What is the attitude of the students toward the two teaching methods used?
3. Is there a relationship between critical thinking skills and attitude toward lecture
discussion method and cooperative learning approach?

Research Methodology

Research Design

The pseudo-experimental method utilizing the repeated measures design was used
in the study. Two groups/sections were utilized as subjects of the study. It is
repeated because each group was exposed to both teaching methods alternately.
This alternate use of the method was repeated for six weeks.

Respondents and Sampling Procedure

The study involved two sections of the second-year level of Andarayan National
High School with a total of 115 students (56 students in section A and 59 students
in section B). All of them were taken as subjects who were taught lessons using the
lecture discussion method and cooperative learning approach alternately.
Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach … 119

Research Instruments

The study made use of six pretests and six posttests as main instruments in the
study. Also, the attitudinal inventory scale was used before and after the experi-
mental period. These pretests and posttests were used to assess the critical thinking
skills of students in organizing ideas, making inferences, giving interpretations,
comparing and contrasting, and making judgments. The attitudinal inventory scale
was used to measure the attitude of the students toward lecture discussion method
and cooperative learning approach.

Collection of Data

Pre-treatment Phase

Within the duration of the study, the teacher prepared six pretests and six posttests
to test the critical thinking skills of the subjects. Each of these pretests was
administered weekly by the teacher before the discussion of the topic or selection.

Treatment Phase

The subjects were taught alternately using the lecture discussion method and
cooperative learning approach for the duration of the study. The different cooper-
ative learning approaches, namely Think-Pair-Share, Round Robin Brainstorming,
and Numbered Heads were utilized in the cooperative group.

Schedule of the two approaches

Week Section Method
1st week II-A Cooperative learning approach
II-B Lecture discussion method
2nd week II-A Lecture discussion method
II-B Cooperative learning approach
3rd week II-A Cooperative learning approach
II-B Lecture discussion method
4th week II-A Lecture discussion method
II-B Cooperative learning approach
5th week II-A Cooperative learning approach
II-B Lecture discussion method
6th week II-A Lecture discussion method
II-B Cooperative learning approach
120 E. Quines

Post-Treatment Phase

After the duration of the study, the results of the pretests and posttests on organizing
ideas, making inferences, giving interpretations, comparing and contrasting, and
making judgments, were evaluated and compared based on the research problems.
Also, the attitudinal inventory scale was administered before and after the experi-
mental period.

Analysis of Data

The data were analyzed with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics.
Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means, standard
deviation, and weighted mean were used to analyze data to answer descriptive
questions. For the inferential questions, the t-test for independent groups was used
to compare the pretest and posttest scores between the experimental and control
groups. On the other hand, the t-test for dependent groups was used to assess the
difference between the pre and posttest scores of each group. To determine the
effectiveness of the two methods, the gain scores between the posttest and pretest
were used. The Pearson product moment correlation was used to determine the
relationship between the attitude of students toward English as a subject and the
critical thinking skills of the students.

Result/Discussion

Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach

in Developing the Critical Thinking Skills of Students
as Compared to the Traditional Lecture Discussion Method

There is a significant improvement in the critical thinking skills of students taught

with the use of lecture discussion method and cooperative learning approach. The
mean gain scores of students taught with lecture discussion method and cooperative
learning approach in the different critical thinking skills do not significantly differ as
shown in their total mean gain scores (Figs. 1, 2, and 3).
Results show that in the first three weeks, the gain scores between the two
groups do not significantly differ as shown in the computed t-values. However, the
cooperative learning approach has significantly improved the critical thinking skills
of the students as shown by the computed t-values on the fourth, fifth, and sixth
weeks, respectively.
Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach … 121

Mean Gain Scores Computed Probability

Skills Lecture Cooperative t- value
Discussion Learning Approach
Method
Organizing Ideas 2.97 3.46 0.631ns 0.530
Making Inferences 3.04 3.17 0.218ns 0.828
Giving Interpretations 2.80 3.17 0.545ns 0.587
Comparing and 2.32 2.50 0.248ns 0.804
Contrasting
Making Judgments 2.22 2.32 0.185ns 0.853
Total Scores 13.85 14.13 0.171ns 0.865
ns- not significant

Fig. 1 Comparison of the mean gain scores of students taught with lecture discussion method and
cooperative learning in the different critical thinking skills

Time Mean SD Standard Error of Computed t-value Probability

Difference
Lecture Discussion
Method
Pretest 42.22 3.66 0.479 1.742ns 0.084
Posttest 43.05 3.71
Cooperative
Learning Approach
Pretest 42.78 4.04 0.472 5.415** 0.000
Posttest 45.34 3.89
ns- not significant
** - significant at .01 level

Fig. 2 Comparison of the attitude of students toward the use of lecture discussion method and
cooperative learning approach

Group Mean Gain Standard Standard Error Computed t- Probability

Attitude Deviation of Difference value
Scores
Cooperative 2.56 5.06 0.616 2.794** 0.006
Learning
Lecture 0.83 5.14
Discussion
Method
** - significant at .01 level

Fig. 3 Comparison between the mean gain attitude scores of the students in both cooperative
learning approach and lecture discussion method
122 E. Quines

Variable Correlation Coefficient Probability

Attitude and Posttest Scores
Lecture Discussion Method 0.004ns 0.966
Cooperative Learning Approach 0.189* 0.043
ns-not significant
* - significant at .05 level

Fig. 4 Relationship between the attitude of students and their posttest scores in the cooperative
learning and lecture discussion setup

Attitude of the Students Toward the Two Teaching

Methods Used

Though both approaches showed improvements in their attitude toward English as

shown in their overall weighted mean in the pretest and in the posttest, it was found
that the attitude of students toward lecture discussion method is not significant
while the attitude of students toward cooperative learning is significant as shown by
the computed t-value. Moreover, it was found that the cooperative learning attitude
gain scores are higher than the lecture discussion method attitude gain scores
(Fig. 4).

Relationship Between Critical Thinking Skills and Attitude

Toward Lecture Discussion Method and Cooperative
Learning Approach

Lecture discussion method is not significantly related to critical thinking scores. On

the other hand, cooperative learning approach is significantly related to critical
thinking scores.

Significance/Contribution of the Study

• Curriculum planners and administrators may use this study as a basis for cur-
riculum revision emphasizing the development of critical thinking skills using
cooperative learning strategies.
• Teachers may employ the different cooperative learning strategies to improve
the teaching-learning process and the critical thinking skills of their students.
• Other researchers may also use this study as a reference in order to come up with
other related studies. The strategies used in this study can be compared also to
other strategies that could develop critical thinking skills.
Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach … 123

Conclusions

Based on the findings, the following conclusions are drawn

• Cooperative learning is an effective alternative to the conventional method of
developing critical thinking skills.
• The elements of this method help to develop critical thinking skills and social
skills of learners.

References

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