Empowering Analytical Minds: Enhancing Grade 6 Students' Critical Thinking through STEM Education

บทคัดย่อ

This study has three main objectives: 1) to examine the analytical thinking skills of Grade 6 students both before and after participating in STEM learning activities, and 2) to design STEM learning activities that effectively promote the development of analytical thinking skills among Grade 6 students. A purposive sampling method was used to select a group of 30 Grade 6 students to participate in a comprehensive 15-hour lesson plan on rocks and the rock cycle. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed to derive the study's findings. The results indicated that Grade 6 students demonstrated significant improvement in their analytical thinking skills after participating in the STEM lessons. The lessons spanned 15 periods and followed 6 STEM steps, including 3 main activities: studying the components of rocks, exploring their origin and formation, and understanding the rock cycle, as well as examining the uses of rocks and minerals. The students’ post-learning scores were higher than their pre-learning scores. This conclusion was supported by the students' responses and comments during the learning activities, where teachers used questions in conjunction with real-life scenarios. The students showed enhanced analytical skills in three specific areas: content analysis, relationship analysis, and principle analysis. The continuous recording of the development of these skills highlighted the effectiveness of STEM education in promoting analytical thinking, which is a fundamental aspect of critical thinking.