EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN YORUBA READING COMPREHENSION IN OMU-ARAN, NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of cooperative learning strategy on senior secondary school (SSS) students’ achievement in Yoruba reading comprehension in Omu-Aran, Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to examine whether the use of cooperative learning strategy would enhance students’ achievement in Yoruba reading comprehension. The study employed a quasi-experimental design to collect data. All SSS II Yorùbá students constituted the population, while the sample consisted of 100 SSS II students. The instrument used for the study was a 20-item test from some selected Yoruba Comprehension titled “Yoruba Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (YRCAT)”. The instrument was validated by an expert in test, measurement and evaluation and two Yorùbá education experts, while its reliability was ascertained using the test-retest method where a coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. The YRCAT was administered as both a pre-test and a post-test respectively. Data collected were analyzed using the t-test. The outcome of the study showed that no significant difference existed between the pre-test mean scores of students in the experimental and control groups, indicating initial academic homogeneity of the groups. After the treatment, there was a significant difference in the achievement mean scores of students in the experimental and control groups with the former outperforming the latter. The study concluded that cooperative learning strategy is an effective teaching method that could be used to sustain and enhance students’ reading comprehension performance.  It was recommended, among others, that teachers should use cooperative learning strategy as a means of teaching Yoruba reading comprehension or as an adjunct to the conventional method of teaching to bring up slow learners in the class and help the fast learners to assimilate faster.