Students’ Perceptions of the Academic and Social Benefits of Working with Cooperative Learning

Objective – Traditional teaching methods are no longer enough to prepare students to face the challenges and changes of an international society and to gain the skills needed for the contemporary labour market. Therefore, there is a need to implement alternative teaching methods in Saudi schools, such as cooperative learning to help learners gain personal and social skills and improve their learning. This study investigated Saudi high school learners' perceptions of cooperative learning based on its five principles (Johnson & Johnson, 2014), and the benefits of working cooperatively in class. Methodology/Technique – 97 students were involved in this study in one all-male high school in Saudi Arabia. Mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used to collect the data, using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews respectively. Findings – The findings suggest that students seem to prefer to use cooperative learning instead of lecture-style mostly due to the perceived academic benefits it generates, among which were increased motivation, enhanced autonomy and responsibility towards learning, gaining thinking and problem solving skills, higher levels of understanding and long-term retention. Students also seem to agree that adopting the cooperative learning principles leads to social benefits such an enjoyment in learning, reduction in anxiety, increased confidence, and positive relationships among students. Novelty – This paper has discovered and recommended that cooperative learning should be considered for implementation in Saudi schools instead of lecture-style in order to benefit students academically and socially. Type of Paper: Empirical