Engaging Students in Group-based Co-operative Learning- A Malaysian Perspective

In recent years, the information and communication technology (ICT) has created a significant impact on the methods of communicating information and knowledge to the learners and, consequently, innovative teaching techniques have evolved to change the way teachers teach and students learn. In this paper, the focus is on a study which was conducted on a group-based cooperative learning class to determine its impact on student learning and the reactions of these learners towards this instructional methodology. The students in the course were given a web-based multimedia-mediated cooperative learning project to complete. Students worked in groups and used multimedia and web technologies to construct their projects. As such, a technology-supported cooperative learning framework was established. A survey was conducted to ascertain the reactions of the students towards this mode of teaching and learning. Results of the study showed that in group-based learning, students learned by cooperating and interacting with each other and participated actively in their own learning process. Students also learned to cultivate teamwork, communication, management and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, by incorporating a multimedia project into the cooperative learning structure, a viable and effective strategy was created to enhance student learning.