There are several models used in CL categorized on the basis of group composition,
organization and duration of study (Slavin, 1995). This study used the fundamentals of the
Students Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) cooperative learning Strategy as
recommended by Slavin (1997) .Students` teams comprised five to six students .STAD CL is
most appropriate for teaching subject matter with well-defined objectives such as
mathematics (Postlethwaite and Husen, 1994; Slavin, 1997). In this strategy the teacher
presented the mathematics lesson first and then students’ teams used a variety of methods to
master the material, such as quizzing each other, discussing and using worksheets. To
recognize team members` excellent performance scores were computed on the basis of team
members’ improvement scores, after which certificates and school bulletin boards were used
to recognize high scoring teams. STAD, CL strategy was able to promote face-to-face
communication, positive interdependence, individual accountability and interpersonal
collaborative skills which were essential in improving the learning of mathematics as
recommended by Jonhson, Jonhson and Holubec (1994 ).