INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

Volume 15, No. 03, Month JULY, Year 2019, Pages 501 - 518

Development of knowledge, awareness, critical thinking and argumentation of the 9th grade’s students taught socioenvironmental issues using mixed methods based on adapted problem-based learning

Suksringarm, J., Singseewo, A. and Appamaraka, S.

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The effects of two methods of teaching five socio-environmental issues on knowledge, awareness, critical thinking, and argumentation of 98 students of the 9th grade’s students was investigated. The experimental group consisted of 49 students who learned using the mixed methods based on the adapted problem-based learning approach. A control group of another 49 students learned using the traditional teaching method. The research instruments included 10 lesson plans that tackle the five socio-environmental issues, five plans for each group with each plan given for 2 h of learning a week; a knowledge questionnaire; an awareness questionnaire; a critical thinking test, and an argumentation test. The major findings revealed that male and female students in the experimental group and control groups showed development in argumentation from the first to the sixth test and showed gains in knowledge, awareness, and critical thinking. Male students had more knowledge and awareness than female students, but there were not differencest in critical thinking and argumentation in both sexes. The experimental group showed more knowledge, awareness, critical thinking, and argumentation than the control group, w.hereas, the relationship between sex and learning model was found to be not significant.

Keywords

socio-environmental issues, mixed methods based on adapted problem-based learning, knowledge, awareness, critical thinking

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