The effect of cooperative learning in statistics course on the academic success and attitude of the students and analyzing their level of statistical thinking

This study aims at determining the effect of cooperative learning method on students' achievement in statistics course and their attitudes towards statistics course, and also defining students' statistical thinking level. In accordance with the aim of this study, the research was conducted with freshmen of psychological counseling and guidance department in a state university in 2013-2014 academic year. Designed as non-equivalent control group which is one of the quasi-experimental models, the research was carried out with 65 students randomly chosen as experimental (n=33) and control (n=32) groups. The research was performed by the researcher in both experiment and control groups within 12 weeks. In order to collect the quantitative data of the study, "Statistics Achievement Test" (SAT) consisting of 23 items and "Scale of Attitudes toward Statistics" (SATS) developed by Diri (2007) as 5 point Likert type format with 34 items were used in pretest-posttest design. As for the qualitative extend of the study, semi-structured Interview Form" (IF) was applied to experimental group in order to reveal students' views about statistical course and the method used; and "Statistical Thinking Test" (STT) was applied to 11 students in order to determine students' statistical thinking levels. In order to find out whether there was a statistically significant difference between experiment and control groups, the data gathered from "Statistics Achievement Test" was calculated by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA); and the data obtained from "Scale of Attitudes toward Statistics" was analyzed by Independent Samples T-Test. As a result of the analyzes, it was found that cooperative learning method did not produce any effects on academic achievement; however, it was observed that modified means of experimental group's posttest scores were higher. Moreover, it was seen that cooperative learning method did not make a statistically significant difference in students' attitudes towards the course. In addition, as a result of the interviews with the students chosen from experimental group, students stated that their friendships were developed thanks to cooperative learning method; and they facilitated each other's learning during group works. Finally, it was found that students' statistical thinking levels were concentrated on "Unistructural" and "Multistructural" levels according to SOLO taxonomy. Keywords: Academic achievement, attitude towards statistical course, cooperative learning method, statistical thinking, statistics course