Development Of Critical Thinking Skills Instruments In Elementary School Mathematics Problem Solving

Rosdiana; Syahrul; Baso Intang Sappaile

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i02.3645

Rosdiana Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia
Syahrul Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia
Baso Intang Sappaile Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i02.3645

Keywords: Assessment Instrument, Critical Thinking, Mathematics Problem Solving, Elementary School, ADDIE.

Abstract

This study aims to develop an assessment instrument for measuring elementary school students’ critical thinking skills in mathematics problem solving that is valid, reliable, and practical for teachers to use. The study was motivated by the need for an assessment instrument that does not merely evaluate students’ final answers, but also reveals their critical thinking processes in understanding problems, planning strategies, carrying out solutions, and reviewing results. The instrument was developed based on critical thinking indicators, including interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and self-regulation, integrated with Polya’s stages of problem solving. This research employed a research and development design using the ADDIE model, consisting of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation stages. The trial subjects were fifth-grade elementary school students in the Selayar Islands Regency. The product developed was an open-ended essay test equipped with a test blueprint, instructions, and an analytical scoring rubric. Data were collected through observation, interviews, expert validation, instrument trials, and practicality questionnaires. The data were analyzed using content validity, construct validity through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Cronbach’s Alpha reliability, item difficulty analysis, item discrimination analysis, and practicality analysis. The results showed that the developed instrument had very good content validity, with S-CVI values of 0.875 for the material aspect, 0.925 for the construct aspect, 0.917 for the language aspect, and 0.958 for the scoring rubric. The construct validity also demonstrated a good model fit, with CFI = 0.979, TLI = 0.971, and RMSEA = 0.074, while all factor loadings were above 0.80. The reliability of the instrument was categorized as very high, with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.950 for the 10 essay items. In addition, the instrument was considered highly practical based on expert assessment at 88.13%, teacher responses at 85.94%, implementation observation at 85.16%, and an overall average of 86.41%. Therefore, the developed instrument for assessing critical thinking skills in elementary school mathematics problem solving is valid, reliable, and practical for use as a formative, diagnostic, and limited summative assessment tool in elementary mathematics learning.

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