The Development Of Critical Thinking Ability And Learning Achievement In Science For The Sixth Grade Students By Using Stem Instruction

Abstract

          The purposes of this research were 1) to compare pretest and posttest scores of  critical thinking ability of sixth grade students, and posttest scores with an average score criterion of 70% after learning through STEM instruction, 2) to compare pretest and posttest scores of learning achievement in Science of sixth grade students, and the posttest scores with an average score criterion of 80% after learning through STEM instruction, and 3) to study students’ satisfaction towards learning Science by STEM instruction. The research was an experimental design. The samples consisted of 46 sixth grade students from a municipality school in Nakhon Si Thammarat in the second semester of academic year 2020. The research instruments were 1) STEM based lesson plans, 2) critical thinking abilities test, 3) science achievement test, and 4) satisfaction evaluation questionnaires. The data were analyzed by the statistics of percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test; dependent samples and one sample t-tests were utilized for hypothesis testing.
          The research results revealed that 1) the posttest scores of critical thinking ability of sixth grade students after taught by STEM instruction were higher than the pretest and the average score criterion of 70% at the .05 level of significance. 2) The posttest scores of learning achievement in Science of sixth grade students after taught by STEM instruction were higher than the pretest and the average score criterion of 80% at the .05 level of significance. Also, 3) Students’ satisfactions towards learning Science by the STEM instruction approach were at the highest level.