Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 1, January 2017 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 48 P-ISSN 2362-8022 | E-ISSN 2362-8030 | www.apjeas.apjmr.com Effect of Jigsaw Teaching Method on the Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Arabic Language in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria Musa Siddiq Abdullahi 1 & Musa Salisu 2 1,2 Department of Arts Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria 1 alfulaty2013@gmail.com, 2 abdullahi.ma@unilorin.edu.ng Date Received: December 13, 2016; Date Revised: January 28, 2017 Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences Vol. 4 No.1, 48-53 January 2017 Part II P-ISSN 2362-8022 E-ISSN 2362-8030 www.apjeas.apjmr.com Abstract - This study examined the effect of jigsaw teaching method on students’ performance in Arabic language in Upper Basic Schools in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria. This study is an experimental design of quasi- experimental. The study sample consisted of 80 students drawn from two sampled upper basic schools in Ilorin West and Ilorin East Local Government Areas of Kwara State. The schools were randomly assigned to treatment (40 students) and control (40 students) groups. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyse the data collected. The findings revealed that students taught using jigsaw method performed significantly better than their counterparts taught with the conventional method. Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made. The school administrators should provide a comfortable and relaxed school environment, such that students can be free to execute tutorials and group discussions for themselves. Teachers of Arabic should expose their students to jigsaw method as this will give students an avenue to have intellectual discussions with one another. Keywords: Arabic, Teaching, Jigsaw method, Student Performance and Ilorin metropolis INTRODUCTION Learning is referred to as the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values or preferences which involve synthesizing different kinds of information. Human beings, animals and some other beings were blessed with the learning ability. James and Gardner [1] opined that learning is not compulsory but it is contextual which does not happen once but rests upon and shaped by what we know. Therefore, learning is viewed as a process, rather than a collective of factual and procedural knowledge. Wenger [2] noted that learning produces changes in an organism and the changes produced are relatively permanent. Learning methods refers to the view that different people learn information in different ways. Recently, concept of learning methods has steadily gained influence. The study describes the intense interest and discussion that the concept of learning methods has elicited among senior secondary school students in Arabic Language. Moreover, the concept of learning methods has wide acceptance among students, parents and general public. This is so because the learning methods are actively promoted by vendors offering different tests, assessment devices, and online technologies to assist educators identify their students‟ learning styles and adapt their instructional approaches accordingly [3]. Learning methods encompass a series of theories suggesting systematic differences in individuals‟ natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and processing information in learning situations. A core concept is that individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and has greatly influenced education [4]. The Jigsaw technique is a method of organizing classroom activity that makes students depend on each other to succeed. It breaks a class into groups and breaks assignments into pieces that the group assembles to complete the puzzle. Jigsaw, one of the cooperative learning techniques, is based on group dynamics and social interactions. It is one of the pure cooperative learning techniques [5]. This technique, including two different treatments with different small groups in order to help learning and improve cooperation between students, was first designed by Aronson in 1978 [6]. Jigsaw technique can enhance cooperative learning by making each student responsible for teaching some of the materials to the group. In this