Effect of Cooperative Learning Teaching Strategy on the Reduction of Students’ Anxiety for Learning Chemistry

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cooperative learning methods of teaching on Senior Secondary School students’ anxiety for learning chemistry. 120 students (52 females and 68 males) randomly selected from the senior secondary schools in South-West Nigeria participated in the study. This study employed a quasi-experimental design. This implies that the design included two treatment groups – Cooperative learning method (Jigsaw II) and the conventional method (chalk-and-talk). Two lesson notes, one for cooperative learning method (Jigsaw) and the other for conventional chalk-and-talk method, and Chemistry Anxiety Scale (CAS) were the instruments used to collect the relevant data. The data collected was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings of this study revealed that students in both the cooperative learning group and conventional-lecture group exhibited high level of chemistry anxiety at the pretest level. However, after the treatment (posttest level), the chemistry anxiety level of the students in cooperative learning group reduced drastically while the chemistry anxiety level of the students in conventional-lecture group increased. We concluded that since cooperative learning methods of teaching reduced students’ chemistry anxiety, chemistry teachers should be encouraged to incorporate cooperative learning in their methods of teaching.