Effect of Cooperative Learning Approach on Students’ Academic Motivation in English in co-educational Public Secondary Schools, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of cooperative learning approach (CLA) on student’s academic motivation in English in public co-educational secondary schools in Nakuru, County Kenya. The study adopted quasi experimental design, based on Solomon Four- group, Non-equivalent Control Group Design. The study involved two Experimental groups, E 1 and E 2 which were taught through CLA method and two Control groups, C 1 Copyright © 2019 Centre for Democracy, Research and Development (CEDRED), Nairobi, Kenya. and C 2 which were taught through the Conventional methods. The target populations were students and teachers from the four co-educational public secondary schools of Nakuru County. Nakuru County was selected due to its low academic achievement with a mean score of 3.33 in 2015, a mean score of 2.81in 2016 and a mean score of 3.00 in 2017. The study sample size was 242 Form three students from the four co-educational public secondary schools in Nakuru County. Students’ Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) was used to collect quantitative data. The study found that by teaching English subject using CLA in public co-education secondary schools in Nakuru County, the students were likely to improve with a margin of 37.0% while teaching of the subject using the conventional methods would only realize a gain of 7.5%.The study concluded that there was statistically significant effect of cooperative learning approach on students’ academic motivation in English in public co-education secondary schools in Nakuru, County Kenya (F(1,126)=737.625, P<0.05). The study recommended that English teachers should use cooperative learning approach (CLA) in teaching of English. The study further recommends teachers to motivate and inspire their learners with regard to positive virtues’ which enhances students’ motivation to improve and have a desirous drive towards the learning.