Cooperative learning and social skills

The purpose of present study is to determine effectiveness of cooperative learning on the social skills of first grade elementary school girl students. For this, 74 students of first grade elementary school (37 students in an experimental group and 37 students in a control group) were selected by random sampling. The method of this study is quasi-experimental one by pretest-post test with control group. Research measures is rating scale to measure social skills in children. For analyzing the data, dependent sample t-test on gain scores was employed. The findings showed that the experimental group enjoys a significantly higher level of social skill than the control group (p<0.05). The results indicate that cooperative learning method in comparison with traditional method is of a much higher effectiveness on the social skills of students.