A case study of cooperative learning in inorganic chemistry tutorials at the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City

Teaching methods in higher education in Vietnam are dominated by the lecture method. The lecture method allows students to passively receive information from teachers; it pays little attention to the processes of constructing knowledge and developing cognitive abilities of students. In this study, the investigator attempted to create a learning environment to provide conditions for students to construct their own knowledge and to develop thinking in order to help students learn more effectively. The learning environment is cooperative learning, in which students worked together in small groups to solve problems in the tutorials of an Inorganic Chemistry course. The study investigated students' behaviors when they were studying in this environment, students' beliefs about cooperative learning and their attitudes toward this learning-teaching method.; Twenty-seven students in Chemistry Department of the Natural Science University at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City participated in the study during six tutorial periods. Data were collected from observations of students' behaviors in the tutorials and interviews designed to determine students' opinions about cooperative learning. The data were analyzed and presented mainly in a descriptive style.; Findings of the study indicated that students believed that cooperative learning approaches were a valuable method for promoting their learning. Students believed that their reasoning ability was developed and their understanding of the subject matter increased when they were studying together in small groups. They liked cooperative learning and exhibited positive behaviors when studying in a cooperative learning environment.