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Effects of an Instruction Method in Thinking Skills with Students from Compulsory Secondary Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

María Luisa Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga ,
María Teresa Sanz de Acedo Baquedano  and
Milagros Pollán Rufo
María Luisa Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga*
Affiliation:
Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain)
Milagros Pollán Rufo
Affiliation:
Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mª Luisa Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga. Departamento de Psicología y Pedagogía. Universidad Pública de Navarra. Campus de Arrosadía. 31006 Pamplona. (Spain). Phone: +34-948169479. Fax: +34-948169169. E-mail: mlsa@unavarra.es
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects caused by the instruction method “Think actively in academic contexts, TAAC”, an adaptation of Wallace and Adams' (1993) method of thinking skills, creativity, selfregulation, and academic learning, with students from the second grade of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE). We used a pretest-intervention-posttest design with control group. The sample was made up of 110 participants, aged between 13 and 15 years, 58 of them in the experimental group and 52 in the control group. Six assessment instruments were administered before and after applying the method in order to measure the dependent variables. The method, divided into eight stages, was used in all the didactic units of the syllabus content of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Language, during one academic course, and allowed the conjoint teaching of thinking skills and the syllabus content. The results of the analyses of variance indicate positive impact of the intervention, as the experimental subjects improved significantly in thinking skills and academic achievement. Some interesting reflections for research and education are derived from this study.

El estudio que presentamos tuvo como objetivo evaluar los efectos originados por el método de instrucción “Pensar activamente en entornos académicos, PAEC”, una adaptación del método de Wallace and Adams (1993), en las habilidades del pensamiento, la creatividad, la autorregulación y el aprendizaje académico con alumnos de segundo curso de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO). Se utilizó un diseño pretest-intervención-postest con grupo control. La muestra estuvo formada por 110 sujetos entre 13 y 15 años, 58 de ellos pertenecientes al grupo experimental y 52, al grupo control. Antes y después de aplicar el método se administraron seis instrumentos de evaluación para medir las variables dependientes. El método, dividido en ocho fases, se utilizó en todas las unidades didácticas de los contenidos de ciencias naturales, ciencias sociales y lengua durante un curso académico, y permitió la enseñanza conjunta de las habilidades del pensamiento y de los contenidos curriculares. Los resultados de los análisis de varianza sugieren un impacto positivo de la intervención, ya que los sujetos experimentales mejoraron significativamente en habilidades del pensamiento y en rendimiento académico. Se derivan de este estudio interesantes reflexiones para la investigación y la educación.

Keywords

thinking skillsTAAC methodcreativitytransferand academic achievementhabilidades del pensamientométodo PAEAcreatividadtransferenciarendimiento académico
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , May 2010 , pp. 127 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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