Quality of Sociology Learning Through Reflection-Embedded STAD Cooperative Learning: An Indonesian Senior High School

Abstract

Sociology education in secondary schools is expected to develop critical thinking and sociological reasoning, yet instruction often remains teacher-centred and weakly participatory, limiting both the quality of the learning process and the depth of conceptual understanding. This study examined whether embedding a structured cooperative-reflection phase within the Student Teams–Achievement Divisions (STAD) model could improve the process and outcome quality of sociology learning. Using a two-cycle classroom action research design based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model, the intervention was implemented with 40 Grade XI students at a public senior high school in Wajo, Indonesia. Process quality was monitored through structured observation of individual and group engagement, and learning outcomes were assessed through validated end-of-cycle tests; data were analysed using qualitative thematic coding and descriptive statistics, with classical mastery set at 85% as the success criterion. Classical mastery rose from 92.5% in Cycle I to 100% in Cycle II, and the proportion of students reaching the highest achievement band increased from 85% to 97.5%. More notably, observed engagement indicators—question-asking, volunteering, and contributing to peer groups—were initially low in Cycle I and improved after reflection-informed adjustments such as group rotation and stronger scaffolding in Cycle II. The findings suggest that the gains were driven less by raising bare pass rates, which were already high, than by deepening engagement and consolidating understanding through structured reflection. The study contributes a transferable, reflection-embedded variant of STAD for sociology teaching while acknowledging the limits of single-class action research.