Implementing the Arduino Uno-Assisted Discovery Learning Model to Improve Students' Critical Thinking Skills and Learning Activities in Dynamic Electricity

Abstract

This classroom action research examined changes in the critical-thinking performance and learning activities of 37 Grade IX-B students during an Arduino Uno-assisted Discovery Learning unit on dynamic electricity. The study was conducted in two cycles, each comprising three observed instructional meetings followed by a cycle-end test. Critical thinking was assessed with a test, and learning activities were assessed with an observation sheet. From Cycle I to Cycle II, the distribution of critical-thinking scores shifted toward the high and very-high categories: the proportion in the very-high category increased from 10.81% to 21.62%, the proportion in the high category increased from 51.35% to 59.46%, and no students remained in the low category. The mean observed learning-activity score increased from a recalculated 50.71% in Cycle I to 80.05% in Cycle II. These within-class changes coincided with instructional revisions after Cycle I and indicate improved engagement and critical-thinking performance across the two cycles. Because the study involved one class without a comparison group or pre-action test, the findings should be interpreted as cycle-to-cycle changes rather than as a causal effect attributable solely to the intervention.