Design and Development of an Experiential Learning Activities Package to Promote Reading Literacy for Upper Primary School Students

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) analyze the experiences and essential needs of Thai language teachers and upper primary school students for developing reading literacy; 2) design and develop a set of experience-based learning activities to enhance reading skills in upper primary school students; and 3) examine the outcomes of implementing these activities. The research was divided into three phases: analysis and exploration, design and development, and evaluation and reflection. The research used tools developed through a design thinking process. In Phase 1, design tools 01 - 16 were used; in Phase 2, design tools 17 - 18 were used; and in Phase 3, design tools 19 - 20 were used. The research participants are teachers and students from schools in Udon Thani Province. The findings revealed that: 1) teachers’ experience, who primarily rely on textbook lectures and lack instructional materials, needs learning activities, online media, or games to aid their teaching. Similarly, students’ experience of being taught through lectures and being burdened with excessive assignments also expresses a desire for engaging enhancements such as games or activities incorporating online media. 2) The results of the prototype’s learning activities developed from this research include plans, activity sheets, and pre- and post-learning assessments—nine sets of activities. The evaluation results from experts ranged between 0.60 - 1.00. 3) The results from of these learning activities demonstrated that upper primary school students’ reading intelligence scores improved significantly-by 0.5 points-after participation.