Abstract:
The study investigates the Effect of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Achievement Motivation of Low Achieving Students in Reading Comprehension. The area of the study was Nsukka educational zone of Enugu State, Nigeria.Four research questions and three null hypotheses were generated to guide the study. The design of the study was a quasi- experimental non-equivalent pretest– posttest control group design involving one experimental group and one control group. The sample size consists of two hundred and three (203) identified low achieving SSII students from two schools in Nsukka Local Government Area in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. Two instruments were used for the study- Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) and Achievement Motivation Rating Scale (AMRS). These instruments were validated by experts and used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. Major findings of the study reveal that cooperative learning strategy has some influence on achievement motivation of low achieving students in reading comprehension. There is no significant difference in the mean achievement motivation scores in reading comprehension of male and female low achieving students exposed to cooperative learning strategy. Instructing low achieving students in cooperative learning strategy has a significant effect on their achievement motivation in reading comprehension. The interaction effect of cooperative learning strategy and gender on achievement motivation of low achieving students in reading comprehension was not statistically significant. Based on these findings, conclusions were drawn and the educational implications discussed. Major recommendations were made: First, adoption of cooperative learning strategy in schools will expose low achieving students to constant and active participation in their learning process. It will enable low achieving students to learn, retain and recall concepts, ideas and principles when they take part in the learning process. Second, both male and female low achieving students should be exposed to cooperative learning strategy without any form of discrimination since they benefit equally from such exposure. Third, teachers should expose their students to cooperative learning strategy and encourage students to demonstrate the techniques among their peers in order to improve low achieving students performance in reading comprehension.
