Student's Motivational and Social Experiences in Jig Saw Cooperative Learning Method: A Qualitative Study

Background and Cooperative learning method has been emphasized as an effective educational strategy by many researchers, but there are few qualitative researches on the results of its application. Therefore, the study of collaborative learning experiences in students can be effective in identifying strategies for increasing productivity and effectiveness of this approach. The purpose of this study was to explain the experiences of students in Jigsaw collaborative learning method.
17 high school students who were trained in psychology courses by Jigsaw method participated in this qualitative study. Data were collected by unstructured and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim.
Interviews were analyzed using 7 steps Colaizzi (1987) method. The main themes extracted from data analysis included five themes of intrinsic motivation, social skils, learning, facilitator, and inhibitor factors.
In this way, the environment supports the freedom of action of students and facilitates their learning. In addition, the students considered the existence of irrationality, the unwittingness of some students and unfamiliarity with this method as one of the factors that reduced its effectiveness. According to the viewpoints of students, lack of motivation, lack of motivation and unfamiliarity with this method are the factors that reduce the effectiveness of this method.