The Development of Integrated Learning Unit Based on Problem Based Learning to Enhance Critical Thinking Ability of Grade 6 Students

Abstract

The purposes of this research were: 1) to develop an integrated learning unit based on the problem-based learning approach; 2) to compare students’ critical thinking ability after instruction with a criterion of seventy percent; 3) to compare students’ academic achievement before and after instruction; and 4) to investigate students’ satisfaction with the learning unit. The participants were nine sixth-grade students from Ban Sang Kaew School a small-sized school, during the first semester of the 2025 academic year, selected by cluster sampling. The research instruments consisted of: 1) the learning unit; 2) a critical thinking ability assessment; 3)an academic achievement test; and 4)a student satisfaction questionnaire. The learning unit was developed through three stages: learning unit development, instructional implementation, and learning unit evaluation. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, percentage, the Friedman test, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.The findings revealed that: 1) the developed learning unit integrated science and health education and consisted of the following components: the title of the integrated learning unit, learning standards and indicators, key concepts, learning objectives, learning activities(Problem-Based Learning Activities), learning tasks or performance products, and learning assessment and evaluation procedures. Expert evaluation indicated that the overall appropriateness of the learning unit was at the highest level(M = 4.64, SD = 0.58); 2) students’ critical thinking ability after instruction was significantly higher than the criterion of seventy percent at the .05 level (Z-scores of 44, 45, 41, 42, and 45 for indicators 1 through 5, respectively) ; 3) students’ academic achievement after instruction was significantly higher than their academic achievement before instruction at the .05 level(Z-score of 45) ; and 4) students’ overall satisfaction with the learning unit was at a high level(M = 4.32, SD = 0.77).