Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension By Using Stad (An Action Research Of The Second Grade Students At Sma Muhammadiyah 1 Sragen, In The Academic Year Of 2011/2012)

Oleh :
Fuji Hastuti - X2209016 - Fak. KIP

This research is aimed at: (1) investigating whether or not STAD improves the students’ reading comprehension of the second year students of SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Sragen; and (2) describing how STAD can improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning process. The method used in this research was a classroom action research. The research was conducted in two cycles at the XI Science II grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Sragen from February to June 2012. There are two kinds of data: qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected by using observation, questionnaire, interview, and field notes. Then, the quantitative data were collected by using tests (pre-test and post-test). Qualitative data were analyzed in five stages, Burns (1999: 157- 159), as follows; assembling the data, coding the data, comparing the data, building interpretation, and reporting the outcomes. The research findings show that the use of STAD could improve students’ reading comprehension and the effectiveness of teaching and learning process. The improvement happens on the students’ reading comprehension components like the abilities: (1) to identify the main idea of the text by using skimming; (2) to find detailed information of the text by using scanning; (3) to find the purpose the text by activating background knowledge; (4) to find implicit information by applying reading between the line; (5) to find synonym of scientific term by analyzing vocabulary and guessing the meaning from the context. Besides, the improvement of students’ reading skill can be seen from the improvement of the mean score of pre-test (5.80), post-test of cycle I (8.38), and post-test of cycle II (8.73). There is also an improvement in the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process indicated by (1) students’ enthusiasm in the teaching-learning process; (2) students’ attention and active involvement in the team learning process; and (3) students’ excitement and happiness in the teaching-learning process. To improve students’ reading comprehension successfully, teachers must provide enough guidance and help for learners during the implementation of STAD. Moreover, the implantation of STAD also contributes to the development of the learners’ psychology. The use of STAD in heterogeneous class consisting of fast, medium, and slow learners results in a better learning atmosphere, psychologically and academically for all students, more especially for the slow learners.