Relationship between Academic Achievement and Interest Factors Based on Collaborative Learning Approach among Form Six Economics Students

Abstract

Economic literacy is an essential piece of an individual’s daily life regardless of background. An acquaintance of economic literacy empowers individuals to decide rationally in the face of economic issues that impact the lives of communities and nations in a dynamic atmosphere. Malaysia has been in the third phase in executing the Malaysia Education Development Plan (2013-2025). Thus, the Ministry of Education Malaysia took a visionary step by advancing a virtual learning platform called Google Classroom or known as Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (DELIMa), at the school level. This approach satisfies the learning needs and wants of Generation Z students. An active learning climate such as a collaborative approach boosts the learning process positively. Nevertheless, the economic achievements and interests of the students identified were not promising. Interest and achievement factors are closely interrelated. Accordingly, this study attempted to identify the perception of students’ interest in economic learning and the relationship between interest factors and economic students’ achievement based on a collaborative learning approach. This survey study was conducted on 207 Form Six economics students in Malacca, Malaysia. The research instruments involved in collecting data were questionnaires and student achievement tests. The outcomes of the Pearson correlation analysis revealed no significant relationship between interest and achievement factors among economics students. Contextually, this approach could support economics students gain access to and manage learning content more easily. The researcher proposes that this learning by the Google Classroom-assisted digital platform approach be continued in the future to facilitate students to access learning content. The conclusions of this study confirmed that futuristic pedagogical methods such as cybersecurity, gamification and heutagogy would complement the landscape of the learning environment in Malaysia in the future. Thus, added studies on other factors that support the efficacy of the implementation of digital collaborative learning approaches should be developed. Keywords: Academic Achievement; Interest; Google Classroom; Online Learning; Economics Education. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-1-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2022