Building mental health and social skills: The positive impact of jigsaw model in taekwondo course

21st-century education emphasizes technology adaptation and high-level thinking skills, including the development of high-level thinking that puts high pressure on students' mental health and social skills. This study used a one-group pre-post design to test the effect of the jigsaw learning model on students' mental health and social skills in taekwondo lectures. The participants were 136 students (male = 109; female = 27) using a simple random sampling technique. Mental health data were collected using 35 items of the Mental Health Instrument with a 5-point Likert scale, and social skills data were collected using 45 items of the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scale with a 4-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired sample tests with the help of the IBM SPSS version 29 program. The study's results proved that the mental health indicator that experienced the highest increase was "Harmony in mind," and the lowest was "Learning activities." In the social skills indicator, the highest increase was "Self-control," and the lowest was "Empathy". The jigsaw learning model has been proven to significantly improve students' mental health and social skills in taekwondo lectures. Thus, the jigsaw model can be used as an effective model to address students' mental health and social skills problems and support students' psycho-social development when facing various challenges and high academic demands at university. Keywords: Mental health, social skills, jigsaw model, cooperative learning