Investigating effects of strategy instruction in cooperative learning groups concerning undergraduate physics labwork

This work investigates effects of instruction method concerned as independent variable on the student academic achievement and retention level. Instruction methods contain conventional labwork technique applied to control group students and strategy instruction within cooperative groups that is applied to experimental groupIn the work, pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control group was used and the research was carried out on two groups consisting of first grade students (n=39) at undergraduate level all attendig Introductory Physics II Lab course. This work is considered as a ?case study? and hence is not related with any universe.Data of the work was collected by Introductory Physics Laboratory Achievement Test (IPLAT). The test consists of 25 items and has a KR20 reliabiltiy coefficient of 0.78. The entire work contains Electrical Currents, Resolution of Direct Current Circuit, Magnetic Field and Magnetic Force and is carried out for 4 weeks. During the application, the control group students carried out close ended experiment while the strategy instruction group students carried out a semi open ended labwork with 12 strategy steps.The obtained data is analyzed by means of t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test.The overall evaluation of the research clearly shows that strategy instruction within cooperative groups increases student academic achievement and it has positive effects on the retention level. However no statistically meaningful difference between control and experimental students groups concerning academic achievement and retention level is detected. This work is important and original in terms of the application of strategy instruction within cooperative groups.