ABSTRACT
This action research was conducted in Baloy High School for the school year 2018-2019. A total of 50 Grade-8 students served as the participants of the study. It used one group pre-test post-test research design and data retrieval technique. Data analysis involved the use of frequency count, means, standard deviations, t-test and Analysis of Variance. Observational research method with personal interview was used on the qualitative portion.
Results revealed that the pre-tests were the same and the test of difference was found not significant. On the contrary, the result of post-tests showed significant increase. The result suggests that the intervention could significantly improve science performance of the students.
Based on this finding, it was concluded that traditional teaching-learning method alone should be minimized and utilizing the intervention i.e., Kagan cooperative learning strategies be employed for they showed favorable increase in the performance of the students thus adoption of this strategy is being recommended to among teachers in Science and further tests may also be done in the other curriculum area teaching-learning functions.
Keywords: Cooperative learning, Kagan Learning Strategies, Science academic performance
Introduction
Cooperation and teamwork are key elements in achieving a certain goal. However, it is a sad reality that some students nowadays perceived classroom as a place of competition and rivalry for academic success. That is why teachers must optimize learning environment by utilizing new strategies that cater not only to the academic needs but also engages each student so they can work and grow together harmoniously and enjoy learning as it should be.
Traditional teaching only engages some students but not all. It also reinforces habits of passive dependent learning which are not effective because students are not given the opportunity to discuss and debate their answers in an attempt to work through and improve their understanding (McCauley & McClelland,2004) as a result, it will not adequately prepare students for the labor force and technological world (Cole,2008).
Engaging each learner in the discussion makes him feel that no one is marginalized inside the classroom. Cooperative learning strategy stresses that teachers serve as classroom facilitator who creates an environment where all students can learn by encouraging them to talk and work with peers (Williamson & Null, 2008), feel safe and comfortable with other learners (Akinbobola, 2009) and support culturally responsive pedagogy (Nguyen, 2012).
As the pioneer of this strategy, Kagan (2009) elaborates that cooperative learning activities offer a foundation for classroom instruction that has the potential to increase positive interaction among students and permit them to explore and engage in learning. Furthermore, it also empowers learners to achieve shared progress (Agarwal & Nagar, 2011) in learning achievement and social abilities (Acar & Tarhan, 2008) by forming proper group structure that pull students up and support each other’s learning (Ferguson-Patrick,2010).
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