Jigsaw in a College Classroom: Effect on Student Achievement and Impact on Student Evaluations of Teacher Performance

Abstract

Little research has been conducted on cooperative learning techniques used in college classrooms. One cooperative technique, Jigsaw, was used to determine if college-level students who were given instruction by the jigsaw method would score higher on a posttest than those college level students who were taught the same material by lecture. No significant difference between the adjusted posttest means for the two groups occurred. Additionally, student evaluations of teacher performance were examined to determine if students who were given instruction by the jigsaw method evaluated the instructor performance higher than students taught by lecture. Student evaluation of teacher performance tended to be lower in the jigsaw group.

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