EFFECTS OF JIGSAW II ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

IN ENGLISH PREP CLASSES

Individual Article Review

(i) Full Bibliographic Reference

Hüseyin Evcim and Ömer Faruk İpek (2013).Effects of Jigsaw II on Academic

Achievement in English Prep Classes.Social and Behavioural Sciences,70:1651-1659.

(ii) Introduction

(a) Objectives:

The objectives of this study was to as certain that the learner centred learning, that

is cooperative learning techniques is more effective than the traditional learning

method.

This is because in traditional learning method, the learners with limited

proficiency receive less communication from their teacher and peers. The

traditional method causes different skills development for different people, which

is why pupils can demonstrate different levels of ability when it comes to learning.

(b) Article Domain

Cooperative learning technique generally refers to students working together to

achieve academic objectives and the instructional procedures that structure the

students' collaborative efforts. Jigsaw II is a cooperative learning model that

involves small groups of students(2 – 4 students) teaching each other the subject

matter. Eventually, the students become the "experts" with success dependent

upon student cooperation. Jigsaw II was used to see if it could produce superior
 academic achievement compared to the traditional learning method which is more

towards teacher-centered whole-class instructional process.

(c) Audience:

Traditional learning methods have always been focussed on lecture-based

methods in which the learners become passive recipients of knowledge. But in

recent years instructional process was seen to have greater emphasis on

cooperation-based learning. This interactive learning-teaching method enables the

students to work in cooperation in small groups (2 – 4 pupils) so as to attain their

shared learning objectives to the maximum.

(d) Conceptual/Empirical Classification:

Unlike traditional instructional method, cooperative learning requires students to

work together in small, fixed groups on a structured task. In order to achieve the

purpose of the instruction, each member of the group must have

accountability.When every member of the group is accountable to learn all

required material, all students would feel more comfortable with their roles in the

group. Mutual understanding and the trust among the group members further

enhance the effectiveness of the cooperative learning environment. This would

enable each student perform well in evaluation individually; and eventually

contribute to the group’s excellent performance.

(iii) Brief Summary: Research Questions, Findings and Implementations of the

Study

The research question was, “Is there a significant difference between Jigsaw II-based

instruction and traditional-based instruction in terms of students’ academic

achievement?”
 While traditional instruction method is mainly teacher-centered, the students have

least opportunity for communication, and eventually they would become passive

learners.

On the contrary, cooperative learning method enables each student to become a

valuabe resource for others. Learning from each other gradually decreases the need to

try to outperform each other because one student’s learning enhances the performance

of the other students instead of preventing others from learning. Inhibiting is usual in

teacher-oriented classrooms.

Within this cooperative learning paradigm, the teacher becomes the facilitating

resource person, and shares in the learning and teacher process with the students

instead of being the sole resource. Rather than lecturing to the students, the teacher

facilitates the students’ mutual learning , in that each student is required to be an

active participant and to be responsible for what he learns.

(iv) Research Methodology

48 students who were offered English-medium education were chosen based on their

mid-term results and quiz results for the purpose of this study. These students were

divided into two groups: 1. Experiment Group; and, 2. Control Group. Each group is

consists of 24 people, and they share the same qualities in terms of department and

male-female numbers.

The students’ first mid-term results were used as a tool to determine the experimental

group and control group as it was a standardized exam applied by the department of

foreign languages. The means of both groups were almost the same and they were

equal in terms of their exam results.

 At the end of the instructional process, the students would be evaluated. They would

have to sit for a final test, a 50-question-quiz; which is designed by the researcher

focusing on the points covered during the Jigsaw II.

There were two groups; experimental and control group were involved in this

experiment. The evaluation for each group is done after the learning process and the

results were analized through “SPSS 15.0 for Windows”. The data analysis clearly

shows that the mean of the experiment group is much higher than that of the control

group. This result indicates that there is statistically significant difference between

experimental and control groups.

(v) Foundation Theory

The reason for the students in the Jigsaw II group had higher scores than those in the

control group can be attributed to the fact that students in the cooperative (Jigsaw II)

group completely learn their subject topics by fulfilling their individual

responsibilities, make their friends understand the topic, have effective interactions

with their friends, and are all actively involved in the learning process.

(vi) Contribution: does it provide new solutions / a new way to look at a problem

It can be asserted that being both a teacher and a student helped students develop a

better interaction and actively participate in the learning process. The motivational

perspectives in cooperative learning focus primarily on the reward; that is, the

attainment of group members’ personal goals when the group is successful.

Therefore, the students feel dependent on each other, which creates an atmosphere of

real-world-like situations where people have to work as a team. As such, Jigsaw II

 technique should be considered to be used from the beginning to enhance learning

through encouraging team-work.

(vii) Issues: What remain unresolved in your opinion

The proficiency of the students in the target language is expected to be a setback in

this Jigsaw II technique. In order to contribute to the group the students should

possess the certain level of knowledge in the language. The factor is most likely

would effect the smooth flow of sharing information in the group. The element of

dissatisfaction among the group members might hamper the objective of the

instruction process.

The accountability of each member of the group, preparing and contributing

information to the group. If one member of the group fail to prepare for the task

which was given to their group, this will halt the smooth flow of the discussion. There

are chances where one or two members of the group do not have the accountability.

These kind of students will choose to ride on the back of other group members; and,

whenever a task is given to them.

Next is the formation of the “expert group”. The chances of getting an “expert sheet”

for each and every group for they are the ones who are going to ensure that the

activity given is being carried out accordingly.

However, all these issues could be overcome by the careful planning of the activity or

task to be carried out.