Recognition of Cooperative Learning through Reflection Journal

In the major course “Culture of Family Life” within the Department of Home Economics Education, offered from 2021 to 2024, students completed a cooperative assignment and were asked to write reflective journals to explore their perceptions of cooperative learning. The students' reflective journals were then analyzed using a qualitative approach and text mining analysis. This study examined students' perceptions of cooperative learning, focusing on what they learned through cooperative learning, the factors contributing to its success or failure, and its impact on their future teaching profession. Students recognized that Home Economics addresses critical and practical issues, making it essential to acquire new knowledge and explore solutions from diverse perspectives. They also emphasized that communication skills and trust among team members are crucial for successfully completing collaborative tasks. The identified success factors of collaborative learning included interdependence and functional factors such as teamwork, cooperation, and sharing among team members, individual accountability factors such as role division and responsibility, and interaction factors like discussion and communication. On the other hand, students identified conflicts among team members as the main cause of failure in collaborative learning, highlighting communication as the most challenging aspect. Most students agreed that collaborative learning, as a self-directed learning method, enhanced their future teaching careers by improving skills in topic selection, teaching method design, and presentation. In summary, students perceived collaborative learning as an opportunity to gain practical experiences valuable for their future roles in the teaching profession.