The Development of Cooperative Learning Activities with Group Investigation (GI) Technique to Enhance Learning in Metal Heat Treatment

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: 1) develop an instructional activity package integrating the Group Investigation (GI) cooperative learning technique to enhance student learning in the Metal Heat Treatment course; 2) compare the academic achievement of students instructed using the developed activity package with those taught through conventional methods; and 3) evaluate student satisfaction with the developed instructional activity package. The participants were 40 second-year vocational certificate students majoring in Machine Shop Technology at Samutprakan Technical College. They were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group through cluster random sampling. The research instruments included: 1) the instructional activity package; 2) an expert evaluation form assessing the appropriateness of the activity package; 3) a student satisfaction questionnaire; and 4) an academic achievement test. Data were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, and independent samples t-test. The findings revealed that: 1) the developed instructional activity package was rated by experts as highly appropriate (=4.54, =0.58); (2) the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher academic achievement than the control group at the .05 level of significance; and (3) student satisfaction with the instructional activity package was at a high level (=4.50, =0.59).