Jigsaw Cooperative Learning: A Viable Teaching-Learning Strategy?

Abstract

This study focused on investigating the effect of jigsaw cooperative learning instruction on the second-year undergraduates’ achievement of Teaching Learning Strategy.Undergraduates’ opinions about jigsaw cooperative learning instruction were also investigated. The participants of this study were 52 second-year undergraduates in Islamic education department in Islamic University of Jakarta, Indonesia. A pre-test was applied to both experimental (N=28) and control groups (N=24) before the treatment in order to identify undergraduates ‘prior knowledge about “ Teaching Learning Strategy” and to determine if there was a significant change in Teaching Learning Strategy from pre-test to post-test for second-year undergraduates. Independent t-test was conducted to compare the prior knowledge test scores for groups and no significant difference was found in terms of mean scores. After the instruction, post-test was administrated to investigate undergraduates' achievement. The results showed that students in the experimental group, who perceived their instruction as more cooperative and more student-centered, had significantly greater improvement on achievement measures than did the students in the control group. In addition, individual interviews reflected that undergraduates had positive opinion about jigsaw, and they believed jigsaw is an effective cooperative learning technique that promotes positive attitudes and interest develop inter-personal skills. The major findings of this study support the effectiveness of jigsaw learning for students in Indonesia higher education institutions. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n7p710