Effects of Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) on Academic Achievement, and Attitudes of Grade 9th Secondary School Students towards Mathematics

Author(s): Van Dat Tran

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on the academic achievement in mathematics and attitudes of 74 9th-grade mathematics students toward mathematics in a high school in Vietnam. Using a pre-test-post-test nonequivalent comparison-group design and t test for independent samples, it was found that after approximately 5 weeks students (n = 36) who were instructed using cooperative learning achieved significantly higher scores on the mathematics post-test than did students (n = 38) who were instructed using lecture-based teaching, t (72) = 2.68, df = 58.49, p < .05. The results of this study also reported that the experimental group had significantly higher scores than the control group on both Enjoyment and Value scales of attitudes toward mathematics (t (72) = 2.81, df = 53.68, p < .05; t (72) = 2.86, df = 55.58, p < .05, respectively). The study concluded that cooperative learning was effective in improving the academic achievement level of participating students, and in promoting the positive attitudes of students toward mathematics in the level of Vietnamese high schools.

Cooperative learning, STAD learning, achievement, attitudes

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