2. Problem Statement & Research
Question
• The students expressed the need of working
on new activities, to be more exact group
activities, that would help them retain more
information
• The research question this study sought to
answer was “Can cooperative learning
activities increase knowledge retention in a
high school foreign language class?”
3. Implementation of Study
• 35 participants for over a 2 ½ week period
• The research used a different type of Kagan
activity each time the class met
• Data was collected from: 2 surveys (1 preinterventions and 1 post-intervention), 2 tests
(pre-intervention test and post-intervention test)
and from teacher observations and student
feedback
• The surveys were created using a 4 Point Likert
Scale and the tests were created similarly for a
more accurate result
4. Results
Pre-intervention survey
1. I enjoy the present activities
we do in class.
23% Strongly Agreed, 65%
Agreed, 11% Disagreed
2. The current activities
practiced in class help me
remember the material
29% Strongly Agreed, 57%
Agreed, 11% Disagreed, 3%
Strongly Disagreed
Post-intervention survey
1. I enjoy the Kagan activities
done in class
38 % Strongly Agreed, 62%
Agreed, no one disagreed
2. The Kagan activities
practiced in class helped
me remember the material
34% Strongly Agreed, 66%
Agreed, no one disagreed
5. Results
Pre-Intervention Test
Post-Intervention Test
•
•
•
•
•
•
80 points possible
46% As, 24% Bs, 14% Cs, 8% Ds, 8% Fs
Overall grade average 81%
Pre-Intervention Chapter Test
80 points possible
50% As, 28% Bs, 5%Cs, 11% Ds, 6% Fs
Overall grade average 85%
Post-Intervention Chapter Test
6%
8%
8%
46%
14%
11%
A
B
5%
C
24%
B
50%
D
F
A
C
D
28%
F
6. Results
• Based on the pre-intervention surveys most students thought that even
though the activities done so far in class were helpful, they were boring
and redundant. Students wanted more diversity in activities and more
group work.
• Based on the post-intervention survey the students enjoy more the Kagan
activities. All of them agreed that these activities helped them remember
the material better than the previous activities practiced in class.
• Based on the test results the number of As increased, the number of
Bs, Cs and Fs decreased while the number of Ds increased in comparison
to the pre-intervention test.
• Even though minor disruptions appeared and several changes had to be
made to certain Kagan activities, the students were more involved and
they were more productive than in the activities done in class before the
intervention.
• Cooperative Learning activities did increase the knowledge retention in a
high school foreign language class
