CASUAL RELATIONSHIP MODEL OF FATORS INFLUENCING THE CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY EXPANSION SCHOOLS UNDER UTHAITHANI PRIMARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE 2

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to develop a casual relationship model of factors influencing the creative thinking skills of junior high school students in the educational opportunity expansion schools 2) to examine the congruences of the casual relationship model of factors influencing the creative thinking skills of junior high school students in the educational opportunity expansion schools with empirical data. The samples were 150 junior high school students, academic year 2023, selected by multi-stage random sampling from the educational opportunity expansion schools under Uthaithani primary educational service area office 2. The research instrument used to collect data was a five-point rating scale questionnaire. The result showed that the analysis to examine the construct validity of the four latent variable measurement models was consistent with the empirical data in every model. The weight of the component of the observed variable was positive. The values ​were between 0.471 - 0.871 and statistically significant at the .05 level for all values. The model was in congruence with the empirical data (=113.693 df = 83, p – value =0.0143, RMSEA = 0.050, CFI = 0.989, TLI =0.979, SRMR = 0.156). The analysis of causal paths influencing creative skills revealed that creativity was directly influenced by achievement motivation with an influence size of 0.557 and was indirectly influenced by the atmosphere in the classroom with an influence size of 0.377.