Effects Of 5E Instruction Model In Reading Classes On Senior High School Students’ Higher Order Thinking

The definition of higher order thinking has always been a hot topic in academic circles.With further research,researchers’ understanding of its definition has developed from a single concept to a combination of multiple aspects,and then to different manifestations when higher order thinking is combined with the characteristics of different disciplines.In addition,the cultivation and measurement of higher order thinking have also attracted much attention.Based on an extensive literature review,this study argues that higher order thinking in reading consists of higher order thinking skills(analysis,inference,evaluation)and the affective dispositions(analyticity,inquisitiveness,systematicity,self-confidence,maturity of judgment,truth-seeking,openmindedness,fair-mindedness).Inquiry-based learning is one of the effective ways to cultivate students’ higher order thinking.As one of the inquiry-based learning models,5E Instruction Model is widely used by middle school teachers because of its strong operability and clear steps.Based on the Constructivism Learning Theory and the Bloom’s Taxonomy,this study probes into the following two questions:(1)What are the effects of 5E Instruction Model in reading classes on students’ affective dispositions in higher order thinking?(2)What are the effects of 5E Instruction Model in reading classes on students’ higher order thinking skills?In order to answer the above two questions,a 4-month teaching experiment was conducted with 100 students(EC=50,CC=50)from two natural classes of Grade 2 in a high school in Yueyang City,Hunan Province.Wen Qiufang’s “Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory” was used to measure students’ affective dispositions in higher order thinking.We used the reading comprehension part in the English test paper of College Entrance Examination to measure the students’ higher order thinking skills and SPSS23.0 software were used to analyze the collected data.In addition,after the experiment,interview was used to provide evidence for answering these two questions.The results revealed that: some affective dispositions in higher order thinking(analyticity,inquisitiveness,systematicity and self-confidence)of the experimental class have been significantly improved.Some affective dispositions in higher order thinking(maturity of judgment,truth-seeking,open-mindedness,fair-mindedness)have not been promoted significantly but the improvements are greater than those in the control class.The analysis and inference skills in higher order thinking skills of the experimental class have also been significantly improved.The evaluation skill in higher order thinking skills of the experiment class has not been promoted significantly but the improvement is greater than that in the control class.To sum up,5E Instruction Model in reading classes can not only improve students’ affective dispositions in higher order thinking(analyticity,inquisitiveness,systematicity and self-confidence),but also improve students’ analysis and inference skills in higher order thinking skills.