E-Worksheet-Assisted Problem-Based Learning and Students’ Mathematical Critical Thinking in Measures of Central Tendency

Abstract

This study examined improvement in eighth-grade students’ mathematical critical thinking through e-worksheet-assisted problem-based learning (PBL) on measures of central tendency. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was employed. The participants were 40 students from a public junior high school in Sumedang Regency, comprising 16 students in the experimental group and 24 students in the control group. The experimental group received e-worksheet-assisted PBL, whereas the control group received conventional expository instruction. Data were collected using a constructed-response test of mathematical critical thinking. Individual improvement was analyzed using normalized gain (N-gain), between-group differences were examined using an independent-samples t test, and the magnitude of the difference was estimated using Hedges’ g. Descriptive analyses were also conducted for each indicator: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference. The experimental group obtained a higher mean N-gain than the control group, with values of 0.548 and 0.416, respectively. The difference was statistically significant, t(38) = 2.731, p = .010, with Hedges’ g = 0.864. Descriptively, the experimental group achieved higher posttest scores and greater mean score increases in evaluation and inference. The control group showed higher posttest scores and mean score increases in interpretation, whereas the two groups obtained relatively similar posttest scores in analysis. These findings suggest that e-worksheet-assisted PBL may serve as an instructional alternative for supporting students’ mathematical critical thinking in measures of central tendency.