The Effects of STAD Cooperative Learning Techniques on Learning Achievement and Attitudes Towards Science of Vocational Certificate Students in Phetchaburi College of Agriculture and Technology

Abstract

This research aimed to compare students' academic achievement against a 70% criterion and to investigate their attitudes toward science after experiencing STAD-based cooperative learning. A one-group posttest-only research design. The sample, selected through random sampling, consisted of 20 first-year Higher Vocational Certificate students majoring in Animal Science during the 2023 academic year, all from a single classroom. The participants received instruction via STAD cooperative learning in a Principles of Genetics course. The research instruments included: (1) STAD cooperative learning lesson plans for the Principles of Genetics course, (2) an academic achievement test comprising 36 four-option multiple-choice items and 7 subjective items, and (3) a Likert-scale science attitude questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and the one-sample sign test. The results revealed that: (1) the academic achievement of the first-year Higher Vocational Certificate students after the intervention was statistically significantly lower than the 70% criterion at the .05 level, and (2) their post-intervention attitude toward science overall was at a high level with an average score of 4.13 (SD = 0.86). Specifically, the subtopic "Awareness of the benefits and detriments of scientific knowledge" yielded the highest mean score of 4.38 (SD = 0.54), whereas the subtopic "Intention to study science" received the lowest mean score of 3.47 (SD = 1.44).