The Role of Multi-dimensional Curriculum Design in Improving Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Anita Yosepha, Mohammad Ali, Dinn Wahyudin, Rusman Rusman

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a multidimensional curriculum in improving the students' high-level thinking skills in middle and elementary schools. The method used was the experimental method with a quasi-experimental design by testing a multidimensional curriculum model integrated with scientific, creative, and future thinking competencies in the experimental group and comparing it to the control group. The participants involved in this study were 500 students divided into two groups, namely the experimental and control. The experimental group consisted of 250 students with a composition of elementary school (grades 4-6) and junior high school students (grades 9-12). The instrument used to measure the students' thinking skills was a questionnaire that contained three dimensions, namely scientific thinking, creative thinking, and future thinking. Data analysis was then carried out. First, factor analysis was used for the item scale analysis for each competency, the Pearson correlation to investigate the relationships between the competencies, paired sample tests to investigate the pre-test and post-test differences, and repeated tests to determine the results based on all variables. The results show that a multidimensional curriculum is proven to be effective at increasing the high-level thinking skills of elementary and middle school students. The improvement in higher-order thinking skills at the junior high school level is more significant than that of the elementary school students because the development of high-level thinking skills are by then sufficiently trained to think scientifically, creatively, and for the future compared to elementary school students. The dimensions of ability that have the most significant improvement are the ability to think about the future and the dimensions of the ability to think creatively. The strongest correlation between higher-order thinking skills and curriculum dimension elements was found in the correlation between creative thinking (identifying and solving problems). This research has the implication that the multidimensional curriculum in its implementation must be accompanied by the use of learning methods that are able to encourage students to think scientifically, creatively, and be able to predict the future.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.7.12


Keywords


higher order thinking skills; multidimensional curriculum; thinking skills dimensions; innovative strategies and methods

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References


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