ASSESSING STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING ABILITIES AND SCIENCE ATTITUDES FOR ENHANCING THEIR LEARNING ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH THE INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHING MANAGEMENT WITH THE STEM EDUCATION INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD OF SECONDARY STUDENTS AT THE 10TH GRADE LEVEL

Abstract

A modern instructional design has been popular in the 21^st century, the STEM education: a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. The purposes of this research study were to develop activity-based learning conceptual approach with the STEM Education instructional method on the Motion issue to assess the efficiency of the processing performances and the performance results (E₁/E₂) at the determining criteria as 75/75, students’ learning achievements of their critical thinking abilities and to attitudes toward science  of their previous and later learning the assessing tests with the STEM education were compared, associations between students’ learning achievements of their critical thinking abilities and their science attitudes toward physics with the STEM education instructional method were assessed.  Administrations with the target group which a sample sizes of 64 secondary students at the 10^th grade level in two classes from Jaturapakpiman Ratchadaphisek School under the Roi-Et Secondary Educational Service Area Office 27 with the purposive sampling technique. Students’ instructional approaching management with the STEM Education Instructional Lesson Plans in six weeks in 15 periods in second semester in academic year 2016 was checked quality. Students’ leaning achievements with the Pretest and Posttest Assessing Designs were evaluated. Students’ perceptions were obtained of the 20-item Critical Thinking Ability Test (CTAT). Students’ attitudes were assessed with a short form of Test Of Science-Related Attitude (TOSRA). Statistically significant differences were analyzed with t-test, ANOVA, associated between students’ learning achievements and their critical thinking to their science attitude toward physics were examined with the simple, and multiple correlations, simple regression validity, and coefficient predictive value were associated. The results of these finding have found that: students were evaluated to determine performance criteria with the efficiency of the processing performance and the performance results (E₁/E₂) of the STEM Education instructional method’s lesson plans to management of students’ activities indicated that of 83.85/81.29, which was higher than standardized criteria of 75/75. Students’ learning achievements from the total score of 40 to their average mean score of pre-test (  = 15.57, S.D. = 7.06) and post-test (  = 32.51, S.D. = 1.63) assessments with the STEM Education instructional method were differentiated that evidence of statistically significant at the 0.001 level. Associations between students’ learning outcomes of learning achievements and their critical thinking abilities to their science rerated attitudes toward physics, the coefficient predictive values (R²) indicated that 4% and 5%, 4% and 16%, 33% and 36%, 61% and 62%, 14% and 20%, and 54% and 71% of the variance in students’ learning outcomes of their pre and post learning achievements of their pre-test assessment and their later critical thinking abilities to their later science rerated attitudes, students’ learning outcomes of their post-test assessment and their previous critical thinking abilities to their pervious science rerated attitudes, students’ learning outcomes of their post-test assessment and their later critical thinking abilities to their later science rerated attitudes, students’ learning performances of their previous critical thinking abilities to their pervious and later science rerated attitudes, and students’ learning performances of their later critical thinking abilities to their pervious and later science rerated attitudes toward physics to their physics classes  were attributable to their previous learning achievement with the STEM Education instructional method were associated, respectively. Based on all the findings, suggestions for improving student learning achievements in learning are of science on physics subject to enhance students’ critical thinking abilities and their science attitudes with the STEM education instructional method of upper secondary students are provided, interestingly. 

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