Abstract

The subjects of the present study are comprised of 50 university students who were enrolled in two classes of the general gymnastics course in the first year of Physical Education and Athletics Teaching during the 2009 to 2010 academic years. The purpose of this research, is to determine the effect of two different (cooperative and traditional) teaching methods over students’ academic achievements and their general approach to gymnastics class and also to weigh students’ opinions about the cooperative learning method. Thus, the experiment and control groups were created; the experiment group was exposed to the cooperative learning method while the control group was exposed to the traditional teaching (teacher-centered) method. In the research, the following instruments were used to collect data: learning style inventory, gymnastics academic achievement test, gymnastics practice and evaluation form, gymnastics attitude scale and student opinion scale. The result of the statistical evaluation showed that, usage of cooperative learning during gymnastics classes has a stronger link with students’ academic success, lesson attitude and practicing skills. In addition, the data gathered through student’s opinion scale suggest that, students liked cooperative learning.

Key words: Cooperative learning, gymnastics class, academic achievement.