Effects of Co-Operative Learning Approach on Students’ Achievement and Attitude towards Oral Literature Genres in Selected Secondary Schools in Kisii District

Abstract

ABSTRACT Oral literature genres stimulate intellectual growth however appears a poorly performed genre in Kenya’s secondary school English syllabus. The poor performance is attributed to the inappropriate and ineffective teaching methods among other factors which hinder the achievement of the intended instructional goals. Co-operative Learning Approach (CLA) as a method was designed for all students to work in small groups of four to six and research on its importance has shown learners achievement, inter-group relations and attitudes towards the subject of study improve. This study was designed to investigate the effects of cooperative learning approach (CLA) on the student’s achievement and attitudes towards the study of Oral literature genres. It also sought to investigate whether there was any significant difference in achievement of students’ exposed to CLA and those not exposed to CLA in the study of oral literature genre. The study used Solomon four group designs. Two groups E1 and E2 received a treatment of CLA whereas C1 and C2 groups were taught using the conventional methods. The study comprised a total sample size of 160 students taking an average of 40 students from each of the groups. Oral literature genres achievement test (OLGAT) and Student Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) were administered to the learners. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data while the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to adjust for existing differences on the post test and retention test. The ANOVA and ANCOVA were employed to test for significance at α = 0.05. The results showed that the students exposed to CLA had a superior achievement and attitude than the students exposed to the conventional methods. The researcher concluded that CLA was an effective method which English and literature teachers should be encouraged to use in the instruction of English and Literature Education