22 Figure 2.
The Frequency Distribution of
Students’ Per
ceptions toward Group Work under the Social Interpersonal Aspect
The data in Figure 2 clearly illustrate that the most valuable benefit in group work in relation to the social aspect wa
s about learning to respect other friends‟ opinions Question 3. The result indicates that almost all of the students 99.2 expressed their
„strong agreement‟ 55.1 or „agreement‟ 44.1 that they could learn to appreciate various and different ideas from other group members through group work. In the words
of Slavin 1987, this positive manner can arise among members since group work can significantly activate students‟ sense in making any effort to accomplish the task
together. In other words, when their sense of belonging toward their group is already active, most of the members will automatically try to do the best for their group,
55.1 35.8
40.8 18.3
1.7 5.9
24.2 44.1
62.5 55.8
69.2
17.6 39.5
57.5
0.8 1.7
2.5 12.5
63.9 44.5
16.7 0.8
16.8 10.1
1.7
0.0 10.0
20.0 30.0
40.0 50.0
60.0 70.0
80.0
Social Interpersonal Aspect
Strongly Agree Agree
Disagree Strongly
Disagree
23 including contributing and listening to many different ideas for the development of the
task itself. The second place of this rank was occupied by the benefit regarding the
improvement of the students‟ communication skills Question 2. The data in Figure 2 indicate that nearly all the students 98.3 either „strongly agreed‟ 35.8 or „agreed‟
62.5 towards this benefit. As said by Long and Porter 1985, unlike a regular class session, group work will provide students more chances to communicate with their peers
during the discussion time. With more chances to communicate, it can be implied that their possibility to form better communication skills can be greater as well.
Another advantage that a huge number of students 96.6 deemed as the third most useful benefit was related to getting to know their friends better Question 1. The
data show that the responses of „agree‟ 55.8 and also „strongly agree‟ 40.8 really dominated this item. The idea of „friendship‟ corroborates Slavin‟s 1987 belief who
said that “cooperation almost always increases positive, intimate contact between individuals
– a condition that leads to the formation of friendships” p. 11. Basically, Slavin is saying that group work can actually offer good opportunities for each student to
understand one another much better since the chances to meet and communicate in group work will be much more than those in the traditional teaching approach.
Furthermore, the subsequent data in Figure 2 indicate that 87.5 of the students either „strongly agreed‟ 18.3 or „agreed‟ 69.2 that they could develop their
leadership skills through group work Question 7. This finding corresponds to
24 Murtisari‟s 2015
1
experience, claiming that students basically could learn to assume responsibilities as they truly worked according to their own roles in the group. That is to
say, Murtisari emphasized that leadership skills were not necessarily practiced through the role of a leader only, since all roles did matter to enable students to improve their
leadership skills. For that reason, group work may be a good teaching technique to train students to commit to their own duties.
The next data in Figure 2 demonstrate that a huge number of students 80.7 either „disagreed‟ 63.9 or „strongly disagreed‟ 16.8 with the statement that they
often felt alienated by their friends in their group Question 4. This finding contradicts the statement of Börjesson et al. as cited in Hall Buzwell, 2012 claiming that some
dominant members will usually disregard a member whose ideas are not helpful for the task assigned. In other words, it can be implied that the majority of the twelfth graders in
Satya Wacana Senior High School perceived group work as more positive within this aspect. Aside from this, however, it is worth pointing out that around one-fifth of the
students 19.3 also expressed their „strong agreement‟ 1.7 or „agreement‟ 17.6 that they often felt discounted in working with some dominant friends, making the claim
of Börjesson et al. should not be overlooked as well. The following data in Figure 2 reveal a common problem usually faced by
students in group work, explicitly about having an argument among members Question
1
Elisabet Titik Murtisari, M.TransStud., PhD, a lecturer of Satya Wacana Christian University, 25 February 2015 personal communication
