Strengthening Fourth-Grade IPAS Learning Outcomes through Cooperative Learning: A Two-Cycle Classroom Action Research in Indonesia
Keywords:
classroom action research, cooperative learning, elementary education, learning outcomes, science educationAbstract
Teacher-centred instruction can constrain participation in elementary integrated science and social studies (IPAS), particularly when students need to connect scientific concepts with everyday experience. This study examined whether an iteratively refined cooperative-learning intervention was associated with improved learning outcomes among fourth-grade students at SDN 17 Tilamuta, Boalemo Regency, Indonesia. A two-cycle classroom action research design was implemented in November–December 2025. Fourteen students with complete repeated records participated in a pre-action assessment, Cycle I, and Cycle II. Achievement was measured using a five-item written test on energy in daily life, supported by classroom observations of participation and group work. To strengthen the original thesis analysis, the individual score data were re-analysed for this journal manuscript using descriptive statistics, mastery proportions, normalized gain, a Friedman repeated-measures test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank comparisons. Mean scores increased from 52.86 (pre-action) to 74.29 (Cycle I) and 90.00 (Cycle II), while mastery at the school criterion of 75 rose from 28.57% to 57.14% and 92.86%. The repeated-measures difference was statistically detectable, χ²(2)=26.46, p<.001, Kendall’s W=.95, with a class-level normalized gain of .79. The findings indicate a strong within-class improvement after iterative cooperative learning. Because the study used one small class without a comparison group and a brief five-item test, the results should be interpreted as action-research evidence rather than a causal effect estimate.
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