Abstract:

The cooperative learning approach is widely recognised as a pedagogical practise that promotes social skills. It involves forming small groups in which students work together to maximise learning success. The issue of weak social skills is one of the problems in secondary physics education that poses a challenge to teachers as it is also linked to interest and achievement. However, reports show that Kosovo ranked third to last among 72 countries in the 2015 PISA test. In 2018, the situation remained similar and in 2022, ranked 77th out of 80 countries, the challenges continued. This shows that something needs to change in physics education. This paper is part of a broader study on the impact of the cooperative learning approach in secondary physics education in Kosovo. In this paper, we address the research questions about the level of social competences of secondary school students in Kosovo. The instrument used to collect the above data was a paper-pencil questionnaire on social skills. The instrument was created in Albanian language and derived from the literature. The non-randomised purposively sample included 15-year-old students attending mixed-gender classes. 66 students participated in the study, of which 25 were female and 41 were male. The reliability test was carried out for the groups of questions on social skills. The results show that the reliability of the questionnaire with 20 statements on the 5-point Likert scale is .881. The questionnaire statistics show that of the 66 students, 51 evaluated higher social skills after the 20-hour intervention than before, while 14 assessed lower after the intervention and 1 showed no change. These results show a statistically significant improvement in social skills after the intervention, suggesting that the intervention was effective in improving students' social skills. The highest level of agreement was found for the statement "I believe that I can solve problems by talking" and the statement with the lowest rank “I help the angry people around me to calm down” also showed a high level of agreement. The results underline the importance of incorporating the cooperative learning approach into secondary school lessons as it improves social skills and increases participation in group learning. These elements are important to prepare students for the challenges of the modern world of work and to make them more flexible and able to work in teams.

Keywords:

Cooperative learning, physics education, secondary school, social skills.