Developing Science Learning Achievement Using STAD Cooperative Learning Integrated with Board Games of Grade 9 Students

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) compare the science learning achievement of Grade 9 students before and after learning through Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) cooperative learning integrated with board games, 2) compare the students' post-test science learning achievement with the 60 percent criterion, and 3) study the students' satisfaction toward STAD cooperative learning integrated with board games. The sample consisted of 33 Grade 9 students in one classroom of Thamaka Witthayakhom School, Tha Maka District, Kanchanaburi Province, obtained by cluster random sampling using the classroom as the sampling unit. The experiment and data collection were conducted during the second semester of the 2024 academic year, with a total duration of 12 hours for the learning activities. The research instruments included 1) 12 lesson plans, 2) board games, 3) a science achievement test, and 4) a satisfaction questionnaire. Instrument quality was systematically verified, showing an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) between 0.67 and 1.00. The achievement test yielded difficulty levels ranging from 0.35 to 0.75, discrimination indices from 0.25 to 0.65, and a reliability coefficient of 0.82. The collected data were analyzed utilizing mean, standard deviation, dependent samples t-test, and one-sample t-test for the 60 percent criterion comparison. The results revealed that 1) the students' post-test mean score (𝑥̅ = 13.18, S.D. = 2.79) was significantly higher than the pre-test mean score (𝑥̅ = 6.73, S.D. = 2.17) at the .05 level of statistical significance, with an average normalized gain of 0.48, reflecting a medium level of improvement, 2) the post-test mean score significantly exceeded the 60 percent criterion at the .05 level, and 3) student satisfaction with this instructional approach was at the highest level (𝑥̅ = 4.56, S.D. = 0.51).