Teacher Implementation of Cooperative Learning in Indonesia: A Multiple Case Study
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
I congratulate you for writing the manuscript. It provides information of great interest to understand and implement the Cooperative Learning (CL) methodology in the educational context.
I provide you with some suggestions that can help you improve the quality of manuscript.
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Abstract and keywords
On line 11, indicate what is meant by the abbreviation CL, i.e., […Cooperative Learning (CL)…]. Then, continue writing the CL abbreviation.
On lines 21 to 22, change all the keywords to new ones, because appear in the manuscript title. They should not be repeat!
Introduction
On line 28, cite the prior researches to which you refer.
Although some characteristics of this methodology are described, a paragraph describing in general terms how CL works is missing.
Despite improvements of Student Centered-Approaches, the use of traditional Direct Instruction methodology continues to prevail. On line 50, indicate the benefits of CL over of traditional Direct Instruction methodology. Why should CL is used?
Purpose of the study
The purpose is clear and correct.
Methods
Why “four” teachers in particular?
On line 128, indicate in parentheses the frequency of implementing CL.
On line 130, briefly indicate that each teacher held a different job/subject, although you describe each teacher in the following section.
On line 182, add the numerical code of ethics approval: […]. In addition to ethical approval, I understand that authorizations were also requested form educational institutions and teachers. Right?
A figure summarizing and clarifying the procedure of the study is missing.
Discussion
On lines 289 to 290, it would be interesting to know why groups with a majority of boys ignore girls. What is the reason for this? Any solution for this problem?
Every research has limitations. Thus, indicate the limitations of this research.
Conclusion
The conclusions are adequate.
References
I suggest trying to update the references.
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Kind regards.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 1,
We would like to thank you for your constructive feedback. Please kindly find our responses to your suggestions.
Abstract and keywords
On line 11, indicate what is meant by the abbreviation CL, i.e., […Cooperative Learning (CL)…]. Then, continue writing the CL abbreviation.
Response: noted and revised in the manuscript.
On lines 21 to 22, change all the keywords to new ones, because appear in the manuscript title. They should not be repeat!
Response:
We thank you for offering this advice, however, we wish to retain the term ‘cooperative learning’ in order to make the article readily accessible to researchers searching for publications in this field.
Key words: cooperative learning; pedagogy in Indonesia; teacher voice; qualitative research
Introduction
On line 28, cite the prior researches to which you refer.
Response: agreed and revised. We added three papers:
- Capar, G.; Tarim, K. Efficacy of the cooperative Learning method on mathematics achievement and attitude: A meta-analysis research. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 2015, 15, 553–55
- Warfa, A.R. Using cooperative learning to teach chemistry: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Chemical Education 2016, 93, 248–
- Kyndt, E.; Raes, E.; Lismont, B.; Timmers, F.; Cascallar, E.; Dochy, F. A meta-analysis of the effects of face-to-face cooperative learning. Do recent studies falsify or verify earlier findings?. Educational Research Review 2013, 10, 133–
- Van Ryzin, M.J.; Roseth, C.J. Cooperative learning in middle school: A means to improve peer relations and reduce victimization, bullying, and related outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology 2018, 110, 1192–1201.
Although some characteristics of this methodology are described, a paragraph describing in general terms how CL works is missing.
Response: a paragraph (line 26-35) has been added to describe about CL and why CL offers benefits to the students thus recommended to be implemented in the classrooms. This paragraph is also a response to the below question (Why should CL be used).
Despite improvements of Student Centered-Approaches, the use of traditional Direct Instruction methodology continues to prevail. On line 50, indicate the benefits of CL over of traditional Direct Instruction methodology. Why should CL is used?
Response: please see the above response.
Purpose of the study
The purpose is clear and correct.
Methods
Why “four” teachers in particular?
Response: “The four teacher cases were selected as they were enthusiastic about practising CL, they used CL in almost every session, and were willing to undertake professional development throughout the research project.”
On line 128, indicate in parentheses the frequency of implementing CL.
Response: revised "almost every session"
On line 130, briefly indicate that each teacher held a different job/subject, although you describe each teacher in the following section.
Response: revised “The participants taught different subjects in different secondary schools as discussed more fully, below. The pseudonyms; Jati, Budi, Nawang, and Krisentia were chosen by the teachers.”
On line 182, add the numerical code of ethics approval: […]. In addition to ethical approval, I understand that authorizations were also requested form educational institutions and teachers. Right?
Response: agreed and revised, “Ethical approval for the current study was received from the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee (Ref. 017950) on 4 October 2016. Signed consent was given by the schools and the study participants.”
A figure summarizing and clarifying the procedure of the study is missing.
Response: we thank you for this suggestion, but we cannot justify the need for such a figure. We believe we have explained the procedure of the study in lines 212-231. However, if you discern that the explanation requires further clarification we would be willing to supply a figure.
Discussion
On lines 289 to 290, it would be interesting to know why groups with a majority of boys ignore girls. What is the reason for this? Any solution for this problem?
Response: agreed and revised, “girls gave more explanations and responded more actively to requests to a boy member in the group. On the other hand, girls in the majority of male group received less help and less responses.”
Every research has limitations. Thus, indicate the limitations of this research.
Response: revised: Limitations section is added.
“It is clear from this study and previous research that the success of CL implementation requires the establishment of CL principles. Measuring the degree to which CL principles were incorporated was beyond the scope of this study. Knowing the nature of the interaction among group members would further help researchers analyse the degree of positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interactions, and the interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing. Further, researchers could use CL validation tool developed by Casey, Goodyear, and Dyson [54] to examine the degree of CL principles”
Conclusion
The conclusions are adequate.
References
I suggest trying to update the references.
Reviewer 2 Report
Cooperative learning is an effective method of teaching in nowadays education and therefore is beyond doubt worth investigating. Reading the article was promising till I got to the methods section or even a little bit before I was expecting to find a clear problem statement and research questions.
Thus, I don´t understand what is the rationale behind the whole study, and why the study was designed as "five different data collection".
My suggestion is to help the reader by formulating a clear research problem and by present a justified methodology for solving the problem. I´m not sure does it increase the contribution of the research field, if your interpretations are directing strongly only towards the Indonesian context.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2,
We would like to thank you for your constructive feedback. Please kindly find the responses of your suggestions below.
Cooperative learning is an effective method of teaching in nowadays education and therefore is beyond doubt worth investigating. Reading the article was promising till I got to the methods section or even a little bit before I was expecting to find a clear problem statement and research questions.
Thus, I don´t understand what is the rationale behind the whole study, and why the study was designed as "five different data collection".
Response: we added, “To build on this research gap, the purpose of this study was to investigate teacher implementation of cooperative learning in Indonesia using a multiple case study.” (line 73-74)
My suggestion is to help the reader by formulating a clear research problem and by present a justified methodology for solving the problem.
Response: we added a purpose why we used five different methods of data collection and inserted the purpose of conducting classroom observation. (line 186 – 196)
I´m not sure does it increase the contribution of the research field, if your interpretations are directing strongly only towards the Indonesian context.
Response: we added a paragraph in the Conclusion section the contribution of the study in the field below:
“While this research was carried out in specific context of Indonesian schools, the wider issues that this research has uncovered could be transferable to other contexts where teachers are shifting away from direct learning and toward constructivist student-centred pedagogical practices. As such, this study offers insight into the challenges involved in changing pedagogical practices and highlights to other researchers the fine-tuning that is needed to understand pedagogical training in and implementation of CL.” (line 522-557)
Reviewer 3 Report
Thanks for the manuscript. A few recommendations:
- It will be great to insert sub sections into the current long introduction in order to enhance the readability.
- There is a lack of emphasis on the significance of the study especially in terms of improving teaching and learning practices.
- It will be useful to include the limitations of the study towards the end of the manuscript.
- There is an unclear theoretical/conceptual framework that underpinned this study as the existing methodology section only mentions a broad 'case study design'.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3,
We would like to thank you for your constructive feedback. Please kindly find the responses of your suggestions below.
- It will be great to insert sub sections into the current long introduction in order to enhance the readability.
Response: We added 2 subsections (p. 26 and p. 47)
- There is a lack of emphasis on the significance of the study especially in terms of improving teaching and learning practices.
Response: we added a paragraph in Conclusion section that the findings could be of use in theory for other populations (especially cultural contexts similar to Indonesia), as a spring board for future research, and as example of the fine-tuning that is needed to understand pedagogical training in and implementation of CL.
“While this research was carried out in specific context of Indonesian schools, the wider issues that this research has uncovered could be transferable to other contexts where teachers are shifting away from direct learning and toward constructivist student-centred pedagogical practices. As such, this study offers insight into the challenges involved in changing pedagogical practices and highlights to other researchers the fine-tuning that is needed to understand pedagogical training in and implementation of CL.” (line 552-557)
- It will be useful to include the limitations of the study towards the end of the manuscript.
Response: Limitations section is added in the manuscript (pp. 521-529).
- There is an unclear theoretical/conceptual framework that underpinned this study as the existing methodology section only mentions a broad 'case study design'.
Response: we added interpretative paradigm and a case study design in the section Materials and Methods (pp 130 - 138. )
“The current study employed a multiple case study design using interpretative qualitative approach to investigate the implementation of CL. We regard interpretivism as the most appropriate approach for the current study because they attempted to understand and interpret the teachers’ conceptions of CL. These conceptions support the construction of a more complete picture of the phenomena as a whole [30]. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the implementation of CL, we employed a case study design, using the qualitative tradition of inquiry. A case study design has been described as offering more profound information and different insights into a phenomenon [31].
When a case study includes more than one single case, a multiple case study is required.”
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Thank you for the updates and improvements you have made. I appreciate what has been done and I believe it gives ground for further discussions around Cooperative Learning where the Indonesian context could be used as a reference study.
