The Effects of Drama and Cooperative Learning Methods on Fifth Graders’ Reading Comprehension Skills, Attitudes, and Stability of Them

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of drama and cooperative learning methods on fifth graders’ reading comprehension skills, attitudes, and stability of these skills and attitudes. A pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design with control group was adopted in the study. A total of 82 fifth grade students voluntarily participated in the study. Data were obtained through the “Cognitive Entry Behaviors Test”, “Reading Comprehension Scale”, “Attitude towards Reading Scale” and respective follow up tests. Confirmatory factor analyses, analysis of covariance, and repeated measures analyses of covariance were conducted to answer the research questions. The findings showed that the reading comprehension and attitude post-test scores of the students in cooperative learning group were significantly higher than both the post-test scores of the students in the drama group and control group where the current curriculum for the fifth graders was utilized. Additionally, no significant difference was observed between the reading comprehension post-test and follow up test scores of the students in the cooperative learning group; whereas significant differences were observed between the reading comprehension post-test and follow up test scores of the students in the drama group and control group. The findings further showed that the differences between the attitude post-test and follow up test scores were none significant across groups. Implications for education and directions for future studies were also discussed in the study