The Development of a Model to Enhance Advanced Thinking Skills to Improve Professional Teaching Capabilities for Students in the Bachelor of Education Program in Social Studies at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

Abstract

This research aimed to (1) examine the current conditions, the desirable conditions, and the needs for instructional management; (2) develop a model to enhance higher-order thinking skills for strengthening professional teacher identity; (3) implement the developed model; and (4) evaluate the model. The study employed the Research and Development (R&D) methodology comprising four phases: survey research, design-based development, quasi-experimental research, and evaluation research. The sample consisted of 147 undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Education Program in Social Studies and nine key informants. The research instruments included interviews, questionnaires, a higher-order thinking skills test, a creative thinking assessment form, a satisfaction questionnaire, and a model evaluation form. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
The results revealed that:
1. The current instructional practices for enhancing higher-order thinking skills and professional teacher identity remained at a level requiring further development, with modified Priority Needs Index (PNI _modified) values ranging from 0.49 to 0.57. The highest level of need was found in the planning and design of learning activities (PNI _modified = 0.57).
2. The developed model for enhancing higher-order thinking skills to strengthen professional teacher identity consisted of five core components (POS-MR): Principle, Objective, System, Method, and Review.
3. The results of the model implementation indicated that students’ satisfaction with the learning management based on the model was at a high level ( = 4.28, S.D. = 0.51).
3. The expert evaluation results showed that the model demonstrated a high level of structural consistency, appropriateness, validity, usefulness, and overall feasibility ( = 4.44, S.D. = 0.26), with feasibility receiving the highest mean score ( = 4.53, S.D. = 0.26). In conclusion, the developed model was found to be appropriate and could be effectively applied as a guideline for enhancing higher-order thinking skills and strengthening the professional teacher identity of preservice teachers, in alignment with the educational context of the 21st century.