Friday, 15 January 2016
Abstract
The low achievement of pre-university
students in General Studies associated with students’ weaknesses in higher
order thinking skills, especially in the form of essay questions. Currently,
there has not been previous studies related to Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on
critical thinking skills, oral communication skills and students’ achievements
in this subject. Thus, this study carried out to identify the effects of the
implementation of PBL on the critical thinking skills, oral communication skills
and students’ achievement in General Studies. This
research is conducted by comparing two groups, i.e. the experimental and control
group. An experimental study with pre-posttest of random group design was conducted
on 60 pre-university students majoring in the humanities at a secondary school
in Sarawak. The data are analyzed using the paired t-test technique,
independent samples t-test and the hierarchical multiple regression. The results
showed that there is a significant difference between groups which receiving
PBL treatment with the control group in critical thinking skill, oral
communication skills and students’ achievement. The experimental group showed
higher mean values for all three dependent variables compared to the control
group. However, hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that PBL
implementation has no direct relationship with students’ achievement.
Furthermore, critical thinking skills and oral communication skills do not act
as relationship mediator variables between the impact of PBL and students’ achievement
in General Studies. This study contributes to students-centered learning
theory, namely problem-based learning on critical thinking skills, oral
communication skills and students’ achievement. It also supports PBL as teacher’s
teaching strategy and students’ learning towards development of critical thinking
skills, oral communication skills and the improvement of students’ achievement in
General Studies subject.
Keywords: Problem-based learning, Critical thinking
skills, Oral communication skill, Student’s achievement.
.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the research was
to shed light on the level of acquisition of the Malay registers among the
Lower Six students of SMK Bahasa Malaysia in 2010. The scope of
research is the definition and the use of syntax and semantics based on the
students’ present stream of learning. The respondents were 72 Lower 6 students of
SMK Bahasa Malaysia .
A set of questionnaire was used in the collection of data. The analysis of the
data was done using the SPSS version 15.0. A statistical descriptive test was
used to interpret the students’ response. The ANOVA test was used to look into
the differences in the level of the language registers acquired and the
Critical and Creative Thinking Skills (CCTS) level based on their stream. The
Pearson Correlation test was used to determine the correlation between the
independent variable (the proficiency level in using the Malay sciences registers)
and the dependant variable (CCTS). The acquisition level of the Malay registers
is high with its scores ranging between 3.86 – 4.02 for each stream. The
finding showed the level of mastery in CCTS among Economic stream students are
higher compared to the Sastera stream students. But Sastera stream students
achieved higher mastery of CCTS level compared to Geography stream students. Further
analysis showed Economic stream students achieved higher level of creative
thinking compared to Sastera stream students. The Pearson correlation test is
significance with a moderate positive relationship, r = .46, between the
acquisition level of the Malay registers and the student’s CCTS.
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