The Effect of Cooperative Learning Strategies on Developing Critical Thinking Skills among Iraqi Secondary School Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study Based on the Paul-Elder Model

Abstract

Iraqi secondary schools are characterized by the dominance of traditional teacher-centered instruction emphasizing rote memorization, which significantly limits opportunities for developing students' critical thinking skills and preparing them for 21st-century demands. This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of three cooperative learning strategies — STAD, Jigsaw, and Think-Pair-Share — on developing critical thinking skills and five sub-dimensions (analysis, evaluation, inference, reasoning, and interpretation) according to the Paul-Elder model (2019), among Iraqi secondary school students.

A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was employed with 90 students equally divided into experimental (n=45) and control (n=45) groups in Baghdad secondary schools 2024-2025. A validated critical thinking test (40 items, KR-20=0.84, alpha=0.81) was used. ANCOVA with Bonferroni correction (alpha=0.01) confirmed pre-intervention equivalence (t=0.048, p=0.962) and significant differences favoring the experimental group on total scores (F(1,87)=432.18, p<0.001, eta2=0.832, d=4.21) and all five dimensions (eta2=0.715-0.768). Adjusted posttest mean: 81.29 vs. 55.18 — a gain 6.45 times that of controls. This study provides the first empirical quasi-experimental validation of the Paul-Elder model in the Iraqi context.