How To Improve Students’ Learning Activities

becomes the specific characteristics of cooperative learning. The characteristics of cooperative learning according to Wina Sanjaya 2009: 242-244 is explained as below: a Team-based Learning Cooperative learning is team-based learning. Team is used as a media to reach the goal. For that reason, team should make every members learn. Every member must help each other to reach the goals. The success of the learning is determined by the success of the team. Every team is set as heterogenic to make the students get experience from others, give and accept others, thus every student will give contribution for the success of the team. b Cooperative-management based Management has 4 functions. These are planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling. Planning shows that cooperative learning need a good planning to make the teaching and learning process runs effective. While organizing shows that cooperative learning is about doing the task together. Thus it is important to distribute the job and the responsibility for every member. Implementing here shows that cooperative learning must be done based on the planning includes the teaching and learning steps agreed. And the function of controlling shows that in the cooperative learning the teacher can determine the criteria of successful learning through test or non test. c Willingness to Cooperate The success of cooperative learning is determined by the success of the group or team. Thus, the principle of cooperation has to be encouraged in cooperative learning. d Cooperation skill The willingness to cooperate then is practiced through the activity which is showed in cooperation skill. Thereby, students need to be encouraged to be able to interact and communicate with other members. The students should be helped to face the obstruction in interacting and communicating, thus they can express their idea, their opinion, and give contribution on the success of the group. d. Advantages and Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning Model 1. The Advantages of Cooperative Learning Model The advantages of cooperative learning model according to Wina Sanjaya 2009: 247-248 are: a Through cooperative learning, students do not depend themselves to their teacher, but they become more confidence on self-thinking, finding information from a lot of sources, and learning from other students. b Cooperative learning can develop students ability to express idea verbally and compare their idea with the others. c Cooperative learning can help students to respect another and realize that every student has weaknesses thus they must accept the differentiation. d Cooperative learning can help students to develop the character of responsibility in learning. e Cooperative learning able to improve the academic achievement along with social competences, included developing self-esteem, interpersonal relationship, time management, and positive attitude towards school. f Through cooperative learning, students can develop the skill on testing idea and their understanding, and the skill of accepting feedback. Students can learn how to solve a problem without worrying about mistakes, because the decision is the group responsibility. g Cooperative learning can improve students’ ability to use information. They also can learn about learning abstract into real. h Interaction during cooperative learning can improve the motivation of the students and stimulate them to think. This is useful for the long-term education process. 2. The Disadvantages of Cooperative learning Model According to Wina Sanjaya 2009: 248-249, there are some disadvantages of cooperative learning such as: