THE EFFECTS OF ACTIVE LEARNING INTEGRATED WITH GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ON ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION AND ANALYTICAL THINKING ABILITY OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
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Abstract
This research aimed to (1) compare students’ English reading comprehension and analytical thinking abilities before and after participating in a specific instructional model, and (2) compare English reading comprehension and analytical thinking abilities between students who were instructed through the model and those who were taught through traditional methods. The sample consisted of undergraduate students enrolled in an Academic English course in the first semester of the 2024 academic year. Group 1 comprised 30 students, and Group 2 comprised 30 students, selected through cluster random sampling. The research instruments included (1) instructional activity plans, whose quality and appropriateness were rated at a high level, with an average score of 4.39; (2) an English reading comprehension test, with Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) values ranging from 0.60 to 1.00, difficulty index (p) between 0.34 and 0.67, discrimination index (r) from 0.37 to 0.65, and overall reliability (KR-20) of 0.91; and (3) an academic English achievement test, with Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) values ranging from 0.60 to 1.00, difficulty index (p) between 0.32 and 0.63, discrimination index (r) from 0.42 to 0.67, and overall reliability (KR-20) of 0.86. The statistics used in the research were mean, standard deviation, dependent samples t-test, and independent samples t-test.
The research results revealed that (1) students who received instruction through the model showed significantly higher post-test scores in English reading comprehension and analytical thinking ability than pre-test scores, at the .05 level of statistical significance, and (2) students in the model group outperformed those students taught through traditional methods on post-tests, also at the .05 level.
The findings of this research provide insights for designing instructional plans that promote students' self-directed learning. Using graphic organizers to analyze and summarize information enabled students to understand content and enhance learning outcomes.
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The published article is a copyright of the Academic Journal of Thailand National Sports University. The passage appeared in each article in this academic journal is a perspective of each author which is not related to the journal. Each author is required to be responsible for all components of his/her own article. If there are any mistakes, each author must be responsible for those mistakes on his/her own.
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