THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL THINKING SKILLS IN MATHEMATICS THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING MANAGEMENT FOR GRADE 3 STUDENTS AT A RAJABHAT UNIVERSITY DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND

Abstract

This study aimed 1) to examine the development of constructivist learning management that enhances analytical thinking skills and 2) to compare students’ analytical thinking skills before and after the implementation of constructivist learning management in mathematics. The participants were 66 Grade 3 students from the Demonstration School of Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University in the first semester of the 2025 academic year. The sample was selected through multi - stage random sampling. The research instruments included constructivist - based lesson plans and an analytical thinking skills test on the topic of fractions. The lesson plans were evaluated for content validity, with an Index of Item–Objective Congruence ranging from 4.40 to 5.00. The analytical thinking test had a reliability coefficient of 0.82, calculated using Lovett’s method. This study employed action research based on Lewin’s concept, conducted in four spiral cycles consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection. The data were analyzed using The Wilcoxon signed - rank test. The findings indicated that constructivist learning management progressively improved students’ analytical thinking skills in each cycle and promoted more systematic problem - solving. Furthermore, the post - test mean score was 14.65 out of 20 (73.26%), exceeding the predetermined criterion of 60%. The post - test scores were significantly higher than the pre - test scores at the .05 level (Z = - 6.748, p < .001).