Does discovery learning enhance secondary students mathematical critical thinking skills?
Yohannes Yohannes(1*), Dadang Juandi(2), Jarnawi Afgani Dahlan(2)

(1)Mathematics Education, Graduate School, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
(2)Mathematics Education Department, Graduate School, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia

*yohannesyohannes[at]upi.edu

Abstract

The implementation of the Discovery Learning (DL) model in mathematics learning in Indonesia is believed to improve secondary students mathematical critical thinking skills so that it becomes the recommended learning model in the national curriculum. Several previous similar types of research have found that DL can enhance secondary students mathematical critical thinking skills. However, there were inconsistencies in the effect size of these primary studies. The meta-analysis was carried out to obtain a comprehensive and inclusive centralized analysis result and investigate the effect of study characteristics. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) is a tool used to calculate hedges effect size (ES). An analysis of 25 relevant primary studies that met the inclusion criteria revealed that, based on the random-effects model, the implementation of the DL model had a high positive effect (ES = 0.981) on secondary students critical thinking skills compared to the conventional model. Furthermore, the characteristics of the duration of treatment and indexed publication show a significant difference in effect size of DL implementation on students^ mathematical critical thinking skills. Thus, DL becomes a recommended model for use by secondary school teachers to improve students mathematical thinking skills by considering the influential characteristics of the study.

Keywords: Meta-analysis- Discovery Learning- Critical thinking

Topic: Mathematics Education