ABSTRACT

Apriliya, A., Rachman, A., & Putro, H. Y. S. (2026). The Use of the Make & Match Game to Improve Students' Social Skills at SMP Negeri 7 Banjarmasin. Edu Cendikia: Jurnal Ilmiah Kependidikan, 5(03), 1403–1411.

    Social skills are essential competencies that need to be developed among junior high school students. However, in classroom practice, many students still demonstrate limited participation in social interaction, communication, and collaboration. Therefore, an instructional strategy that actively engages students in the learning process is needed. This study aimed to determine the effect of the Make & Match game on improving students' social skills. The study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design. The research participants consisted of 31 students from Class VIII E at SMP Negeri 7 Banjarmasin. Data were collected using a social skills questionnaire that had met the validity and reliability requirements. Data analysis was conducted using a paired-samples t-test and effect size (Cohen's d) analysis. The findings indicated an improvement in students' social skills after the implementation of the Make & Match game. The mean social skills score increased from 104.35 in the pretest to 111.26 in the posttest. The paired-samples t-test yielded a significance value of p < 0.001, indicating a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores. Furthermore, the effect size of 1.518 indicated a very large effect. These findings suggest that the Make & Match game can serve as an effective cooperative learning strategy to enhance students' social skills, particularly in the areas of communication, cooperation, empathy, self-control, and constructive conflict resolution.

Keywords: Social Skills, Make & Match, Cooperative Learning, Junior High School Students.