Evaluating the Effectiveness of Project Based Learning on Higher Order Thinking Skills in Informatics Learning: A Simulation Based Analytical Illustration
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55642/taveij.v6i02.1370Keywords:
Project-Based Learning; HOTS; Informatics; Computational ThinkingAbstract
The low level of students' higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in Informatics learning is a problem that affects the analytical, evaluative, and creative thinking abilities that can support computational thinking. This article aims to illustrate an analytical procedure for examining the potential effectiveness of the Project Based Learning (PjBL) model in improving students' HOTS in Informatics learning. The analysis is illustrated using a simulated dataset constructed to demonstrate the proposed design and analytical procedure rather than data collected from actual respondents. The illustration is based on a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design with pretest and posttest, modeled on a hypothetical cohort of 64 students divided into an experimental group (PjBL) and a control group (conventional learning). A simulated dataset was generated for a HOTS test structured according to the revised Bloom's taxonomy (C4-C6), together with illustrative observation and interview material. Quantitative data were analyzed using independent and paired-samples t-tests, Cohen's d, and N-Gain, while the illustrative qualitative material was examined through thematic analysis. The simulated results show the pattern the analysis would reveal if a real improvement in HOTS occurred in the experimental group relative to the control group, with a large effect size and a moderate N-Gain. In the simulated data the largest gains appear in the creating and evaluating dimensions. The illustration shows how such results, if obtained with real data, could be analyzed to examine whether PjBL is associated with greater improvement in students' HOTS, with potential relevance to computational thinking, and it thereby offers a worked, reproducible analytical template, released with open R and Python code, that researchers can apply directly to actual classroom data on project-based learning in Informatics.
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