The Effect of Cooperative Learning Methods on 6th- Grade Students’ Academic Success in Social Studies Course

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of jigsaw and group research methods used in the application of cooperative learning model on the academic success of secondary school students. Experimental research design, including pre-test and post-test, was used in the study. Work group of the study consisted of 60 6th grade students studying in three different classes of a secondary school in Köprüköy district of Erzurum between 2013-2014 spring semester. The study was conducted with two experimental groups and one control group. The related unit was taught via the related methods for five weeks with experimental groups. Academic Success Test (AST) was used as data collection tool of the study. The pre-test and post test scores of experimental and control groups from AST were analyzed by using ANOVA and ANCOVA. According to the AST pre-test and post-test results of research groups, there was no significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores of Jigsaw and Groups Research students in experimental groups, while significant difference was measured between experimental groups and control group.