Effects of Cooperative Learning and Traditional Methods on Reading Comprehension and Its Relationship with Gender

Year 2005, Volume: 43 Issue: 43, 355 - 378, 01.04.2005

Dr. Arzu Güngör Prof. Dr. Kamile Ün Açıkgöz

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the effects of cooperative learning and traditional methods elementary school students' reading comprehension and the student gender. The pre- and post- test experimental design with control group was employed for the research. “Learning Together” technique was used in the experimental group and the traditional teaching methods in the control group. The data of the research was collected through Reading Comprehension Tests (Multiple Choice and Essays). Mean, Standard Deviation, t-test, Correlation, Analysis of Variance, Analysis of Covariance, Benferroni Pairwise Comparisons and Scheffeé test were utilized in data analyses. Research results indicate that cooperative learning method is more effective than traditional methods on reading comprehension. In addition, it has been found out that cooperative learning eliminates the gender differences in reading comprehension. Summary Reading has been one of the most important ways of getting information. Particularly, in the new millennium of industry, reading and reading comprehension will be the most important steps to information production and reproduction (Altunay, 2000). Reading is not merely seeing the words or the sentences. Some cognitive activities must take place beyond seeing for comprehension. Achievement in reading comprehension, which is one of the fundamental objectives of the Turkish language course and which is important not only in students' education process but also in social life, varies significantly in terms of gender. According to most research, female students are more successful than male students (Brantmeier, 2000; Moss, 2000; Phakiti, 2003; Rothman, 2002). Cooperative learning method is an alternative to reach the actual goals of reading comprehension activities and to diminish the differences in the levels of reading comprehension due to gender. Cooperative learning is considered to increase the achievement in school, improve the students cognitively, socially and emotionally and, therefore, improve the quality of their life in the future (Açıkgöz, 2002). Cooperative learning has been proved to be effective on reading comprehension as well as many other subject matters because cooperative learning makes up one of the most important component of the instruction of reading comprehension programs (Fielding & Pearson, 1999). However, since the research into the effects of cooperative learning on primary school students' reading comprehension is very little and there is not any research into the relationship of these effects with gender, it has been thought that research needs to be done in this area. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of cooperative learning and traditional methods elementary school students' reading comprehension and the student gender. Method The model of the research: The pre- and post- test experimental design with control group was employed for the research. The Cooperative learning technique “Learning Together” was used in the experimental group and the traditional teaching methods in the control group Participants: 56 students (experimental group: 12 females and 18 males, control group: 12 females and 14 males). Data Collection: The data of the research were collected through Reading Comprehension Tests (Multiple Choice and Essays). The process: The experiment lasted for 30 hours. The same reading comprehension passages were in both the Cooperative Learning and the Traditional Instruction groups. After the preparations had been made, the applications began. The cooperative learning technique “Learning Together” was used with the experimental group. The “Learning Together” technique was used along with such instructional tasks as illustrating, story tree, drawing conclusions, generating slogans, story completion, listing what has been learnt, summarizing, making posters, writing poems, writing lyrics to songs and making questions. Data Analysis: Mean, Standard Deviation, t test, Correlation, Analysis of Variance, Analysis of Covariance, Benferroni Pairwise Comparisons and Scheffeé tests were utilized in data analyses. Results and Discussion Cooperative learning was found to be more effective on students' achievement in reading comprehension in the Turkish language course than the traditional teaching method. It is not surprising that cooperative learning is more effective than traditional methods on the students' achievement in reading comprehension because in the traditional class a) the teacher conducts the reading comprehension activities with only a few students, b) the students answer the questions about the reading passages reciting word-for-word extracts, and they do not produce original answers about the ideas and the themes in the passages, c) the students do not question or criticize ideas but only follow lessons in a passive manner, d) the students feel bored in the monotously conducted reading comprehension activities. Therefore, the reading comprehension activities do not lead to the desired objectives. Reading is an active cognitive process. When the student only listens passively as a passive receiver, she/he has difficulty igniting her/his own cognitive processes. Unlike the traditional instruction group, all the students in the cooperative learning group participated in the activities, interacted with the texts and their peers, thought about information in the passages, made comparisons, questioned the ideas in the passages, made inferences, synthesized and reproduced the information in the passages, even made such decisions as which instructional task would be more suitable for her/his learning and stated that they were pleased with what they were doing. In addition, the students made gains not only in “reading and understanding” but also in “listening”, “writing” and “speaking”, which form the basis for mother tongue instruction. Therefore, cooperative learning technique has proved to be more successful than the traditional method in teaching reading comprehension. Cooperative learning has eradicated the gender-based differences in reading comprehension. This result is consistent with that of Wilson (1991). In the research conducted by Wilson, no differences were observed between the female or male students in the cooperative learning group. Other studies in the literature have also proved that female students are more successful in reading comprehension (Brantmeier, 2000; Phakiti, 2003). The researchers think that the reason why female students are more successful is that their teachers are also females and that the male students move around a lot, more careless and more trouble-making. They think that the gender-based differences occur as a result of teachers' beliefs and expectations (Legge, 1994; Shaywitz, 2003). It is a natural result that the students educated according to expectations will display behaviors in line with those expectations. It is impossible for the teachers to develop higher expectations for only a few students and do the activities with only those students. However, it is inevitable for the teachers to reflect their expectations in traditional classrooms (Kılıç-Güngör, 2003). This research has proved that it is essential to go beyond the limits of traditional instruction methods in order for the teachers to improve both the female and male students' achievement in reading comprehension levels equally. When the fact that reading comprehension affects the achievement in all other subject matters is taken into consideration, cooperative learning method, which has positive impact on the students' affective and cognitive outcomes, must be employed more in order to solve the related problems.

Keywords

reading comprehension , cooperative learning and gender

İşbirlikli Öğrenme ve Geleneksel Öğretimin Okuduğunu Anlama Üzerinde Etkileri ve Cinsiyet İle İlişkileri

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı, işbirlikli öğrenme ve geleneksel öğretim yöntemlerinin, ilköğretim öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlamaları üzerindeki etkileri ve bu etkilerin cinsiyet ile ilişkilerini incelemektir. Araştırmada, kontrol gruplu ön-test son-test deney deseni uygulanmıştır. Araştırmada, deney grubunda “Birlikte Öğrenme” tekniği, kontrol grubunda ise geleneksel öğretim yöntemleri uygulanmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri, Okuduğunu Anlama Testleri (Çoktan Seçmeli ve Yazılı Yoklama) ile toplanmıştır. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde, aritmetik ortalama, standart sapma, t-testi, Varyans Çözümlemesi, Kovaryans Çözümlemesi, Benferroni İkili Karşılaştırma ve Scheffeé Testi kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin çözümlemesi sonucunda işbirlikli öğrenme yönteminin, öğrencilerin Türkçe dersinde okuduğunu anlamaları üzerinde geleneksel öğretime göre daha etkili olduğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca, işbirlikli öğrenmenin okuduğunu anlamadaki cinsiyete dayalı farklılıkları ortadan kaldırdığı saptanmıştır.

Keywords

okuduğunu anlama , işbirlikli öğrenme ve cinsiyet

References

• Açıkgöz, K. Ü. (1990). İşbirliğine dayalı öğrenme ve geleneksel öğretimin üniversite öğrencilerinin akademik başarısı, hatırda tutuma düzeyleri ve duyuşsal özellikleri üzerindeki etkileri. Ankara üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Eğitim Bilimleri Birinci Kongresi Ankara: 24-28 Eylül 1990, Bildiriler I, Eğitim Teknolojisi MEB, 1993, Ankara. ss: 187-200
• Açıkgöz, K. Ü. (1991). Cooperative, competitive and traditional activities in foreign language achievement and retention. Paper Presented at TESOL 25th Annual Convention and Exposition. New York: March 24-28.
• Açıkgöz, K. Ü. (2002). Aktif öğrenme. Izmir: Eğitim Dünyası Yayınları.
• Açıkgöz, Ü. K. (2003). Etkili öğrenme ve öğretme. İzmir: Kanyılmaz Matbaası.
• Adalı, O. (2003). Anlamak ve anlatmak. İstanbul: Pan Yayınları.
• Adams, J. M. (1980). Failures to comprehend and levels of processing in reading. Bulunduğu Eser: R. J. Spiro, B. C. Bruce, W. F. Brewer (Ed). Theoretical issues in reading comprehension, perspectives from cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and education. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Adams, E. T. (1995). The effects of cooperative learning on the achievement and self-esteem levels of students in the inclusive classroom. Wayne State Üniversitesi. Doktora tezi.
• Akça, G. (2002). Hikaye haritası yönteminin ilköğretim 4. sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama beceri düzeyleri üzerine etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
• Aksakal, Ö. D. (2002). İşbirlikli öğrenme yönteminin anadil (Türkçe) eğitimine etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Altunay, U. (2000). Ön örgütleyiciler ve öğrenci tutumlarının ingilizce ironik metinlerin anlaşılması üzerine etkileri. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Anılan, H. (1998). Beşinci sınıf öğrencilerinin Türkçe dersinde okuduğunu anlama becerisiyle ilgili hedef davranışların gerçekleşme düzeyleri. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Pamukkale Üniversitesi, Denizli.
• Armstrong, S. D. (1997). The effect of student team achivement divisions cooperative learning technique on upper secondray social studies students’ academic achivement and attitude towards social studies class. Southern Mississipp Üniversitesi. Doktora tezi.
• Bielinski, J. ve Davidson, M. L. (1998). Gender differences by item difficulty ınteractions in multiple-choice Mathematics items. American Educational Research Journal. 35,3, 455-76.
• Brantmeier, C. A. (2000). The releationship between readers’ gender, passage content, comprehension and strategy use in reading Spanish as a second language. Doktora tezi. Indiana Üniversitesi.
• Chang, H. R. ve Ledarman, G. N. (1994). The effect of levels of cooperation within physical laboratory on physical achievement. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 2, 167-181.
• Chapman (1991). The effects of cooperative team learning on student achievement in verbal learning strategies (group dynamics). Yüksek lisans tezi. Alabama Üniversitesi.
• Çelikçi, S. (2000). İlköğretim 3. sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama becerilerinin geliştirilmesinde gösteri yönteminin etkililiğinin incelenmesi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Marmara Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
• Doğan, B. (2002). Strateji öğretiminin işbirlikli ve geleneksel sınıflarda okuduğunu anlama becerileri, güdü ve hatırda tutuma üzerindeki etkileri. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Dökmen, Ü. (1994). Okuma becerisi, ilgisi ve alışkanlığı üzerine psiko-sosyal bir araştırma. Istanbul: Milli Eğitim Basımevi.
• Fielding, G. L. ve Pearson, P. D. (1999). Reading comprehension: What works. Teaching for Understanding, 51, 5.
• Good, L. T. ve Findley, J. M. (1985). Sex role expectations and achivement. Bulunduğu Eser: J.B.Dusek, V.C.Hall ve W.T. Meyer (Ed). Teacher expectancies. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Ghaith, G. M. (2003). Effects of the learning together model of cooperative learning on English as a foreign language reading achievement, academic self-esteem, and feelings of school alienation. Bilingual Research Journal. 27,3.
• Guither, L. R. (2001). Coop-dis-Q: A reading comprehension strategy. Intervention in School & Clinic, 36, 4, 217-221.
• Gündemir, Y. (2002). İlköğretim sekizinci sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama becerilerinin gelişimlerinin ölçülmesi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
• Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. England: Longman.
• Jacobs, M. G. ve Hall, S. (2002). Implementing cooperative learning. Bulunduğu Eser: Richards, J. C. ve Renandya, W. A. (Ed.), Methodology in Language Teaching, An Anthology of Current Pratictice, Cambridge: Cambridge Üniversitesi Press, s. 49-52.
• Lazarowitz, R., Lazarowitz, R. H. ve Baird, J. H. (1994). Learning science in a cooperative setting: Academic and achievement and affective outcomes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 10, 1121-1131.
• Lee, D. S. (2000). Gender differences in academic achievement and ability: A longitudinal study strategies of European students. Doktora tezi. Bryn Mawr.
• Legge, J. M. (1994). The interrelationship among and the gender effects of parental expectation, children’s perceptions of parental expectation, childeren’s attitudes toward reading, children’s self-conceps as readers and childeren’s reading comprehension. Yüksek lisans tezi. Newfoundland Memorial Üniversitesi.
• Karadağ, M. (2001). Kuram yöntem bağlamında yazılı sözlü anlatım. İzmir: Kanyılmaz Matbaası.
• Kılıç-Güngör, A. (2000). Öğretmen beklentileri ve sınıf içi iletişim. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Kılıç-Güngör, A. (2003). Öğretmen beklentileri ve aktif öğrenme. Çoluk Çocuk Dergisi, 31.
• Klingner, K. J., Vaughn, S., Schumm, S. J. (1998). Collaborative Strategic Reading During Social Studies in Heterogeneous Fourth-Grade Classroom. The Elementary Journal. 99, No.1.
• Kudek, A. L. ve Sinclair, R. J. (2001). Predicting reading and mathematics achivement in fourth-grade children from kindergarten readiness scores. Journal of Education Psychology, 93, 3, 451-455.
• Küçük, S. (1998). Şehirleşmenin İlköğretim 6. Sınıf öğrencilerinin okuma- anlama becerisine etkileri. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
• Lampe, J. R. ve Rooze, G. E. (1996). Effects of cooperatıve learning among hispanic students in elementary Social Studies. Journal of Educational Research, 89, 3, 187-201.
• Luma, S. (2002). İlköğretim okulu yedinci sınıf öğrencilerinin okuma beceri ve alışkanlıklarını geliştirmeye yönelik uygulamalı bir araştırma. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara
• Marsh, W. H. ve Yeung, A. S. (1998). Longitudinal structural equation models of academic concept and achievement: Gender differences in the development of math and english constructs. American Educational Research Journal. 35, 4, 705-38
• Moss, G. (2000). Raising boys’ attainment in reading some principles for intervention, Reading. Published by Blackwell publishers.
• Neubauer, M. (2000). Cooperative learning and reading comprehension. http://www.teachreach.org/maureen.html.
• Özkal, N. (2000). İşbirlikli öğrenmenin sosyal bilgilere ilişkin benlik kavramı, tutumlar ve akademik başarı üzerindeki etkileri. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Özışık, (1997). İlköğretim 6. Sınıflarda Türkçe öğretiminde yeni teknikler kullanarak metin anlamayı geliştirme. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Marmara Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
• Öztürk, B. ve Koç, G. (2001). Öğretmen beklentileri ve öğrenci üzerindeki etkileri. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 27. Ankara: Pegem Yayınları. s. 359-395.
• Phakiti, A. (2003). A closer at gender and strategy use in L2 reading. Language Learning. 53, 4, 649-703.
• Pomerantz, E.M., Altermatt, E. R. ve Saxon, L. J. (2002). Making the grade but feeling distressed: Gender differences in academic performance and ınternal distress. Journal of Education Psychology, 94, 2, 396-404.
• Rothman, S. (2002). Achievement in litercay and numeracy by Australlan 14 year-olds, 1975-1998. LSAY Research Report Number, 29.
• Ruddell, R. B. (2002). Becoming an efective literacy teacher. Teaching children to read and write: Becoming an effective literacy teacher. London: Allyn & Bacon.
• Sancı, D. (2002). İlköğretim altıncı sınıf öğrencilerinin toplumsal, ekonomik ve kültürel durumlarının okuma motivasyonlarına etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Atatürk Üniversitesi, Erzurum.
• Shaywitz, S. (2003). Reconize boys‘ differences. http://search.epnet.com.
• Skeans, S. E. (1991). The effects of cooperative integrated reading and composition, fidelity of implementation, and teacher concerns on student achievement (integrated language arts). Doktora tezi. Teksas A&M Üniversitesi.
• Steven, J., Slavin, R. E., Farnish, A. M. (1991). The effect of cooperative learning and direct instruction in reading comprehension strategies on main idea identification. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 1, 8-16.
• Stevens, J. R. (2003). Student team reading and writing: A cooperative learning approach to middle school literacy instuction. Educational Research and Evulation. 9,2, 137-160.
• Sucuoğlu, H. (2003). İşbirlikli Öğrenmenin Öğrencilerin Yükleme, Edim ve Strateji Kullanımları Üzerindeki Etkileri ve İşbirlikli Öğrenme Gruplarındaki Etkileşim Örüntüleri. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İzmir.
• Tekin, H. (1980). Okuduğunu anlama gücü ile yazılı anlatım becerisini geliştirme yönünden okullarımızdaki Türkçe öğretimi. Ankara: Mars Maatbası.
• Tuncel, B. (1992). Okuma-anlama başarısı. Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi. İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
• Türkmen, B. D. (2001). Eğitim teknolojisi kullanımının okuduğunu anlama becerisine etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
• Wilson, S. R. L. (1991). The effects of cooperative learning on reading comprehension. Southern Mississippi Üniversitesi. Doktora tezi.
• Worthy, J., Turner, M. ve Moorman, M. (1998). The precarious place of self- selected reading. Language Arts, 75, 4.
• www.muskingum.edu/cal/database/reading.html. Alındı, 10.01.2005.
• Yaman, B. (1999). Birleştirilmiş kubaşık okuma ve yazma tekniğinin temel eğitim beşinci sınıf öğrencilerinin Türkçe derslerinde okuduğunu ve dinlediğini anlamaya yönelik akademik başarıları ile Türkçe dersine ilişkin tutumları üzerindeki etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans tezi. Çukurova Üniversitesi, Adana.