Social Competence of Eighth Graders in a Cooperative Learning Classroom

Abstract

The present study was conducted to compare the effect of the cooperative learning techniques (Jigsaw IV and STAD) on social competence of 240 VIII graders with different cognitive styles. The students belonged to three government schools of Chandigarh. The objectives of the study were to find out whether the cooperative learning strategies (JIGSAW IV and STAD) will result in greater Social Competence in students than conventional strategies of learning?Is there any difference among Field-independent and Field-dependent group of students on Social Competence? Is there a significant interaction between instructional treatments and cognitive styles on Social Competence? The researcher employed pre-test post-test with one control group design and the data collected was subjected to 2-way Analysis of Variance. The results indicated that field-independent group of students exhibited higher social competence than field-dependent group of students. Also, students when exposed to JIGSAW IV yielded better mean difference scores on social competence than students belonging to conventional group whereas no significant difference was found among students belonging to JIGSAW IV and STAD groups on social competence. Students belonging to STAD and control group yielded comparable mean difference scores on social competence. The interaction effect between treatments and cognitive styles was found to be not significant.