CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
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.
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).