This study determined the behavioral skill outcome of technical education students engaged in cooperative learning. Specifically, the study sought to identify the effects of cooperative learning on technical education student’s communication skill, problemsolving skill and critical thinking skill. There were three research questions posed, and the analysis was driven by three null hypotheses tested at (P<.05) level of significance. It has adopted a quasi-experimental design for the study and intact classes were assigned to treatment groups. The study's population was 41 students of Technical Education (TE), consisting of 41 year 3 students of Industrial Technical Education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which was the treatment group allocated to the teaching method of cooperative learning. The instrument used for data collection was the self-assessment inventory of communication skills (CSSAI), the inventory of problem-solving skills (PSSI), and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). Three technical education experts had subjected the instruments to face and content validation. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the study questions while Paired-sample t-test was used to answer the null hypotheses. Findings showed, among others, that there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores taught by Automobile Lighting System students who use cooperative learning in terms of behavioral skill outcome. Among others, it was proposed that technical education teachers be encouraged to use the cooperative learning method in teaching automotive lightening program.

Keywords : Behavioral skills; cooperative learning; Technical education