Effects of an instruction method in thinking skills with students from compulsory secondary education

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects caused by the instruction method "Think actively in academic contexts, TAAC", an adaptation of Wallace and Adams' (1993) method of thinking skills, creativity, self-regulation, and academic learning, with students from the second grade of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE). We used a pretest-intervention-posttest design with control group. The sample was made up of 110 participants, aged between 13 and 15 years, 58 of them in the experimental group and 52 in the control group. Six assessment instruments were administered before and after applying the method in order to measure the dependent variables. The method, divided into eight stages, was used in all the didactic units of the syllabus content of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Language, during one academic course, and allowed the conjoint teaching of thinking skills and the syllabus content. The results of the analyses of variance indicate positive impact of the intervention, as the experimental subjects improved significantly in thinking skills and academic achievement. Some interesting reflections for research and education are derived from this study.