ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND THINKING STYLES

AMONG GRADE TEN STUDENTS IN SELECTED

ISLAMIC PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN

THAILAND

BY

NASNEEN PATCHANEE

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for

the degree of Master in Education

Kulliyyah of Education

International Islamic University Malaysia

SEPTEMBER 2017

ii

ABSTRACT

Researchers have been investigating various factors for differences in academic

achievement among students besides the emphasis on cognitive intelligence. In fact, it

has been found that academic achievement is not determined by cognitive intelligence

alone. Among the factors that are thought to contribute to students‘ success and

academic achievement is thinking style. It stems from the belief that people have

similar patterns in governing themselves just like society does. Studies have shown

that people have different thinking styles – legislative, executive, and judicial style

which do affect the way they prefer to do their tasks. Legislative style is considered as

creative thinking, executive style is viewed as following instruction, and judicial style

is represented as critical thinking. It has been found that students from Islamic private

schools in southern Thailand, in general, do not perform well in public examinations.

Hence, this study investigated the thinking styles of three categories of students and

their relationship to academic achievement. Three groups of academic achievers

among students from 3 selected Islamic private schools in Nakhonsrithammarat – in

upper southern Thailand were identified as the sample. It comprised 158 grade ten

students and the three groups were classified into low achievers (N=36), average

achievers (N=102), and high achievers (N=20) based on the Ordinary National

Educational Test (O-NET) score. The sample was obtained using stratified random

sampling for low and average achievers while purposive sampling was used for high

achievers. The descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and Sternberg‘s

interpretation of the MSG scores were used in analyzing the data. The results reveal

that the executive style was the predominant thinking style exhibited by all groups of

academic achievers. Additionally, the judiciary style was the prevailing thinking style

displayed by male students while the executive style was the most noticeable style

presented by female students. Furthermore, only the legislative thinking style was

found to be an indicator towards students‘ levels of academic achievement. However,

it was a weak one.

iii

خلاصة البحث

يهدف هذا البحث إلى الكشف عن فوارق التحصيل العلمي بين الطلاب إلى جانب التركيز بل من . في الواقع، التحصيل الدراسي وحده لا يحدده الذكاء المعرفي فقط. على الذكاء المعرفي

ويعتقد أن . الدراسي هو نمط التفكيرهمالعوامل التي يعتقد أنها تسهم في نجاح الطلبة وتحصيلفقد أظهرت الدراسات أن . الناس لديهم أنماط مماثلة في الإدارة نفسها تماما مثل أي مجتمع

التشريعية والتنفيذية والقضائية، تؤثر على الطريقة التي – الناس لديهم أنماط تفكير مختلفة فالنمط التشريعي يمثل التفكير الإبداعي، والنمط التنفيذي يمثل .يفضلونها في القيام بمهامهم

وقد وجد أن الطلاب في المدارس . تنفيذ التعليمات، والنمط القضائي يمثل التفكير النقدي. في الامتحانات العامةأداؤهم غير جيدالخاصة الإسلامية في جنوب تايلاند، بشكل عام،

ة ومن ثم فهذه الدراسة تهدف لمعرفة أنماط التفكير لدى ثلاث فئات من الطلاب وعلاق 3 من الناجحينوتم تحديد ثلاث مجموعات من الطلاب . الأكاديميهمبتحصيلذلك

جنوب تايلاند كعينة للدراسة بلغت –مدارس إسلامية خاصة في مقاطعة ناخونسريثامارات قد صنفت المجموعات الثلاث إلى ثلاثة مستويات؛ مستوى و. طالبا من الصف العاشر158وذلك (N=20)، ومستوى متفوق (N=102)، ومستوى متوسط (N=36)متدني

وتم اختيار العينة باستخدام العينة ". اديعتياختبار التربية الوطنية الا"استناداً إلى تصنيف العشوائية الطبقية للمستويين المتدني والمتوسط، بينما استخدمت العينة الهادفة لاختيار

، وتفسير ستيرنبرغ "الانحدار المتعدد"استخدم الإحصاء الوصفي وتحليل تم و. المتفوقينMSGوأوضحت النتائج أن النمط التنفيذي هو نمط التفكير السائد . في تحليل البيانات

إضافة إلى ذلك، كان أسلوب السلطة . لدى كل فئات الطلبة في التحصيل الأكاديميالقضائية هو الأسلوب السائد في التفكير لدى الطلبة الذكور، بينما كان النمط التنفيذي

علاوة على ذلك، وجدت الدراسة أن نمط التفكير . هو النمط السائد لدى الطالباتلذلك، يعتبر مؤشرا . التشريعي يعتبر مؤشرا نحو مستويات الطلبة في التحصيل الدراسي

.ضعيفا

iv

APPROVAL PAGE

I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms

to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and

quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Education.

…………………………………..

Rosnani Hashim

Supervisor

I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable

standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a

dissertation for the degree of Master of Education.

…………………………………..

Merah Souad

Examiner

This dissertation was submitted to the Department of Social Foundations and

Educational Leadership and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the

degree of Master of Education.

…………………………………..

Azam Othman

Head, Department of Social

Foundations and Educational

Leadership

This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Education and is accepted as a

fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education.

…………………………………..

Hairuddin Mohd Ali

Dean, Kulliyyah of Education

v

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except

where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently

submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Nasneen Patchanee

Signature............................................ Date.........................................

vi

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF

FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND THINKING STYLES

AMONG GRADE TEN STUDENTS IN SELECTED ISLAMIC

PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN SOUTHERN THAILAND

I declare that the copyright holders of this dissertation are jointly owned by the student

and IIUM.

Copyright © 2017 Nasneen Patchanee and International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights

reserved.

No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder

except as provided below

1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may

be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.

2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print

or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.

3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system

and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other

universities and research libraries.

By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM

Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy.

Affirmed by Nasneen Patchanee

……..…………………….. ………………………..

Signature Date

vii

This thesis is dedicated to:

My mother; Fathimah, My dad; Ahmad,

My brother; Sadiqeen, my niece; Zilmee

This work could have never been completed without their endless support,

encouragement and inspiration

viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All praise and thanks are to Allah Sub'hanahu wa Ta'ala for bestowing me His

abundant blessings, mercy, help, and guidance in completing this work. As I always

tell those who are around me, that if one day they see me graduate, know that it‘s the

Mercy of Allah sent to me for without it I could never accomplish this.

A number of people have provided guidance, support, and encouragement to

me as I have walked on this academic route and throughout the process of developing

and completing this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the many people who have

supported and guided me throughout my journey.

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank Prof. Dr. Rosnani

Hashim for readily accepting to be my supervisor and for her generosity of time,

expert guidance, invaluable advice, unfailing support and extensive knowledge. I am

grateful to have a chance to work with her and to be under her supervision. She is a

caring teacher who has never failed in trying to understand my needs and extending

help to me to get through the tough and complicated situation.

Besides, I would also like to thank the other kind lecturers who have lent their

hands and guided me to overcome certain obstacles. Thank you, Asst. Prof. Dr. Merah

Souad, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suhailah Hussien, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burhan Ibrahim and

Mr.Thomas Hodgson, for their thorough and precious suggestions for my thesis.

Moreover, I must also thank the three selected Islamic private schools in

Nakhonsrithammarat province: Almuwahidin School, Islamic Santitham Foundation

School, and Prateepsasana Islamic Schoolfor allowing me to conduct the study and

distribute the questionnaire. This research could not have been accomplished without

their kind cooperation.

In addition, throughout this process, I have been sustained by the love and

support of my family and friends. Their consistent support, patience, and love given to

me are gifts themselves. To my dear parents, thank you for always being there for me,

without your prayers, understanding, endurance, love, and caring along the way, I

would never have come this far. Special thanks go to my friends, sisters, and brothers

who believe in me more than I ever believed in myself: sister Dayang, Nawal, Azlina,

Nurul, Muna, Sharmeen, Jannah, Najwa, Yusra, Ibe Toyebi as well as brother Majid

and AbdulFatai. My heartfelt thanks to my loving second family in Malaysia: Pakcik

Khairi and Makcik Hidah who always recharged my power to be full again with their

precious nasihat and support. Last but not least, I wish to thank all education staff for

bearing with me, easing the way for me through the processes needed to get things

done and helping me to achieve this degree.

May Allah (S.W.T.) grant His abounding love to us all, ease us to contribute

what we have gained from education to mankind and continually guide us to His right

pat.

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract .........................................................................................................................ii Abstract in Arabic .........................................................................................................iii Approval Page ...............................................................................................................iv Declaration ....................................................................................................................iv Copyright Page..............................................................................................................vi Dedication .....................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................xi List of Figures ...............................................................................................................xiiii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................1 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................3 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...................................................................................6 1.4 Research Questions .....................................................................................6 1.5 Hypotheses ..................................................................................................6 1.6 Significance of the Study ............................................................................7 1.7 Delimitations of the Study ..........................................................................8 1.8 Theoretical Framework ...............................................................................10 1.9 Operational Definitions ...............................................................................11 1.10 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................12

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................14 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................14 2.2 Academic Achievement ..............................................................................14

2.2.1 Definition of Academic Achievement ...............................................14 2.2.2 Importance of Academic Achievement .............................................17 2.2.3 O-NET as an Academic Achievement of the Study ..........................18 2.2.4 Factors Affecting Academic Achievement ........................................19

2.3 Thinking Styles ...........................................................................................30

2.3.1 Thinking Styles by Sternberg.............................................................30 2.3.2 Related Research on Sternberg‘s Thinking Styles .............................33 2.3.3 Thinking Styles in Thailand ...............................................................38

2.4 Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement .............................................41 2.5 Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement in Thailand .........................43 2.6 Three Thinking Styles Targeted ..................................................................71 2.7 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................71

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................74 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................74 3.2 Research Design..........................................................................................74 3.3 Population ...................................................................................................75

3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Technique ........................................................76 3.5 Instrument ...................................................................................................78

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3.6 Validity and The Reliability of the Instrument ...........................................82 3.7 Data Collection Procedure ..........................................................................83 3.8 Data Analysis ..............................................................................................84 3.9 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................85

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .............................................86 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................86 4.2 Participants‘ Demographic Characteristics .................................................86

4.2.1 Gender ................................................................................................87 4.2.2 School ................................................................................................87 4.2.3 Academic Achievement Categories ...................................................88

4.3 Students‘ Thinking Styles ...........................................................................88 4.3.1 Legislative Style of Thinking.............................................................89 4.3.2 Executive Style of Thinking ..............................................................93 4.3.3 Judicial Style of Thinking ..................................................................98

4.3.4 Sternberg‘s Interpretation of Scores for Each Thinking Style ...........102

4.3.5 Thinking Styles among Three Groups of Academic Achievers ........103

4.3.5.1 Thinking Styles and Categories of Academic

Achievers ...............................................................................106

4.3.5.2 Thinking Styles and Genders .................................................107

4.4 Best Predictor for Levels of Achievement ..................................................109 4.5 Discussion ...................................................................................................112 4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................114

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION,

IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................116 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................116 5.2 Summary .....................................................................................................116 5.3 Findings.......................................................................................................117

5.4 Implications and Recommendations for Future Research ..........................118

5.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................120

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................122

APPENDIX A: LETTERS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH FROM

KULLIYYAH OF EDUCATION .................................................131 APPENDIX B: TRANSLATION OF LETTERS TO CONDUCT

RESEARCH FROM KULLIYYAH OF EDUCATION .............134

APPENDIX C: QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................138 APPENDIX D: TRANSLATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE ...................................141

xi

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Page No.

‎2.1 Sternberg‘s 13 thinking styles in the Theory of Mental Self-

Government 33

‎2.2 Publication Year, Authors, Topic, Research Design and

Summary of Findings of the Major Findings of Recent

Research on Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement

Across the World 50

‎2.3 Publication Year, Authors, Topic, Research Design and

Summary of Findings of the Major Findings of Recent

Research on Thinking Styles and Academic Achievement

in Thailand 66

‎3.1 The Numbers of Grade 10 Students in the Three Selected

Schools 75

‎3.2 Distribution of Students by Group based on O-NET

Examination Scores 76

‎3.3 The Sample Numbers of Grade 10 Students in the Three

Selected Schools based on Academic Achievement 78

‎3.4 Items Associated with Each Subscale on the Thinking

Styles Inventory 79

‎3.5 Items for Each Scale of the Thinking Styles Inventory for

this Study 81

‎3.6 Reliability of Thai Thinking Styles Inventory by

Shuangthong (2005) 83

‎3.7 Alignment between Research Questions and Data Analysis

Procedure 85

‎4.1 Sample by Gender 87

‎4.2 Distribution of Sample by School 87

‎4.3 Sample by Categories of Academic Achievement 88

‎4.4 Legislative Thinking Style 89

‎4.5 Executive Thinking Style 94

xii

‎4.6 Judicial Thinking Style 99

‎4.7 Sternberg‘s Interpretation of the Thinking Style Score 103

‎4.8 Styles of Thinking among Three Groups of Achievers

based on Sternberg‘s Interpretation 105

‎4.9 Correlation of the Predictor and Criterion Variables 109

‎4.10 ANOVA 110

‎4.11 Model Summary 110

‎4.12 Coefficient 111

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Page No.

‎1.1 Theoretical Framework based on Mental Self-Government

Theory 10

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This study is designed to examine the predominant thinking styles based on the

function of mental self-government among three different groups of academic

achievers and to see if there is any relationship between thinking styles and academic

achievement among the three groups of achievers. The study looks into the factors that

affect students‘ academic outcomes. It begins with the background of the study,

followed by the statement of the problems, which shed some light on the need for

conducting this study. It also includes the objectives of the study, research questions,

significance of the study, delimitation/scope of the study, as well as definition of

terms.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

People are all different from one another in various aspects. Such notion is a universal

truth. Bernardo, Zhang and Callueng (2002) indicated that, among the various

individual differences, styles have received extra attention in recent years. Zhang and

Sternberg (2006) gave evidence showing why investigating the role of styles in human

performance is a worthwhile endeavor due to the fact that: ―(a) styles contribute to

human performance over and above abilities, (b) styles and abilities are generally

orthogonal and (c) there are fundamental differences between styles and abilities at the

conceptual level‖ (p.19). These may be the reasons why the role of intellectual styles

in human behaviors and performances has attracted researchers‘ interest for more than

half a decade (Zhang, 2008).

2

Intellectual style is a broad term, which includes three other constructs, such as

cognitive styles, learning styles and thinking styles (Sanyin Cheng & Zhang, 2014).

All of them can be utilized to understand individuals‘ differences in both educational

and working places (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005; Valencia, 2007; Zhang, 2008).

Thinking styles, however, have significantly and meaningfully contributed to

education in understanding the stylistic differences among those who are in an

educational setting. Sadegh, Hojjattollah and Ahmadreza (2015) emphasized that

nowadays thinking has gained special interest in education. Therefore it is taken into

account as a crucial function in education. That is the reason why the studies about

thinking styles are increasingly conducted in educational settings.

Thinking style is the product of mental self-government (MSG), which was

developed by Sternberg in 1994. Sternberg defined thinking style as a comfortable

way in using the abilities of people (Sternberg, 1999; Sternberg & Zhang, 2005). The

term government here represents the chosen alternative choice that externally reflects

what is happening in one‘s mind (Sternberg, 1999). In other words, it represents how

one manages or organizes oneself just like how society governs itself (Zhang, 2002;

Sternberg & Zhang, 2005). Therefore, people tend to choose certain styles that they

perceive to comfortably suit them in managing their daily tasks (Sternberg, 1988,

1999). Sternberg proposed 13 styles of thinking, which fall into 5 categories such as

functions, forms, levels, scopes, and learning of government. Thinking styles,

however, are not viewed as ability but rather the preferred way that one feels

comfortable in dealing with whatever abilities one has (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005;

Mohamed, 2007). Therefore, it cannot be used to judge anyone who has a particular

style of thought as ‗good‘ or ‗bad‘ (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005).

3

In addition, researchers have attempted to understand the phenomenon of

academic performance among students and to find out some factors that can explain

this situation (Damavandi, Mahyuddin, Elias, Daud & Shabani, 2011). Generally,

ability is something that is primarily used to describe students‘ academic achievement.

However, it is not holistic enough to do so since researchers have affirmed that there

are some individual differences other than the abilities that are considered to be

important factors in students‘ academic outcome (Sternberg, 1997; Damavandi et al.,

2011; Negahi, Nouri & Khoram, 2015). Thinking style is one of the predictive

variables that describes academic performance among students (Albaili, 2007).

Furthermore, Fan, Zhang and Watkins (2010) also acknowledged that thinking styles

had an impact on students‘ achievement, even more so than conventional variables,

that have been used as academic achieving predictors for a long time, such as ability

and personality. There is a growing need to study thinking styles across the world.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Islamic private schools were formerly called „Pondok‟ – the institutes that taught only

religious subjects in Islam . However, in 1982, the schools were transformed into

modern schools by the Private School Act 1982, under the Office of Private Education

Commission, Ministry of Education. The new schools began to offer an integreted

curriculum that inclued religious subjects as well as other subjects such as English,

Mathematics, Social Science, Languages etc.

Due to this change, it was found that many Islamic private schools across the

country have failed in adapting the new system and curriculum, which is based on the

national curriculum by the Ministry of Education of Thailand. Churngchow

Boonchaoy and Thongkum (1998) reported that students in Islamic private schools

4

obtained low academic performance because these schools could not adjust well with

the new government policy. Narongraksakhet (2006) described that the number of

students in Islamic schools has increased after the Ministry of Education financially

supported Islamic private schools, and this has led to three problems: (1) over

crowded schools; (2) the lack of qualified teachers, (3) educational quality below the

standard boundary. As a result, the educational quality of many Islamic private

schools could not meet the standard set by the Office for National Education

Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA). This evidence shows that Islamic

private schools were facing a big challenge in producing successful students.

There are a number of variables that were found to contribute to academic

achievement other than students‘ cognitive intelligence and academic capacity. One

variable that is recognized to play a significant role in students‘ academic achievement

is the intellectual style, which comprises cognitive style, learning style and thinking

style. Among these three, thinking style is worthy to be studied especially in an

attempt to understand students‘ stylistic preferences in carrying out their abilities. This

is the reason why students should not be purely judged or evaluated only based on

their academic achievement without looking into the preferred ways in carrying out

their abilities. Thus, it would be better if the preferred ways of utilizing ability of

students are assessed and their results are used to adjust instruction since Sternberg

(1997) believed that every student has ability, but the way they employ it varies from

one to another. In order to extend students‘ academic success, stylistic preferences

among students, therefore, should be taken into account in an educational setting.

Sternberg‘s Thinking Styles are not something new to the Thai research field

since they were first introduced by the Thai researcher Wongwilaiwarin in 2003. The

latter was found in ThaiLis (Thai Library Integrated System) the main online database

5

for all researches that were done in Thailand. However, the research remains

inadequate since, the literature pointed out that there were merely six studies

conducted pertaining to Thinking styles of Sternberg‘s Mental self-government theory

(i.e. Chaiyapornpattana & Wongwanich, 2013; Homhoun, 2014; Kulnapadol, 2013;

Phumkhachorn, 2012; Shoungthong, 2005; Wongvilaivarin, 2003). Three of them

were intended to examine the relationship between thinking styles and academic

achievement (i.e. Chaiyapornpattana & Wongwanich, 2013; Kulnapadol, 2013;

Phumkhachorn, 2012). However, there were no studies conducted in Islamic settings

such as Islamic private schools where most Muslim parents in Thailand tend to send

their kids to study (Kornkasem, 2009; Krahomwong et al., 2003; Narongraksakhet,

1995).

Previous researches indicated that thinking styles made a significant

contribution to academic achievement (Albaili, 2007). Therefore, knowing students‘

thinking styles will enable teachers of Islamic private schools to enhance and to

extend the academic achievement among students. In the case of Thailand, even

though there are several studies investigating the styles of thinking in Thailand, none

of them have been conducted in the Muslim educational context.

This study therefore aims to investigate the predominant thinking styles among

three levels of academic achievers and to examine if academic achievement has a

significant relationship with the style of thought among students in three selected

Islamic private schools, using a questionnaire adopted and adapted from the Thinking

Styles Inventory‘ (TSI) by Sternberg and Wagner (1991) and the Thai version of

Shoungthong (2005).

6

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The primary goal of this study was to determine if there is any significant relationship

between three selected thinking styles and three levels of academic achievements of

grade 10 students in Islamic schools. The objectives of this study are as follows;

1. To investigate the predominant thinking styles exhibited by students

according to

(a) Levels of academic achievement (high, average and low) and

(b) Gender (male and female students)

2. To determine the best predictor for the three levels of academic

achievements (high, average, low) in terms of thinking styles.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

RQ1: What are the predominant thinking-styles exhibited by students based on;

(a) Levels of academic achievement (high, average and low) and

(b) Gender (male and female students)

RQ2: What is the best predictor for the three levels of academic achievements (high,

average, low) in terms of thinking styles?

1.5 HYPOTHESIS

For the second research question, the hypothesis is:

H0: None of the thinking styles is the best predictor for the three levels of

academic achievements.

HA: At least one thinking style can predict the academic achievement of three

groups of achievers.

7

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the present study can provide an important contribution to both the

theoretical and practical aspects. Firstly, the findings of this study can add new

theoretical knowledge especially on thinking styles of Muslim students in Thailand.

This is important especially in highlighting the neglected students‘ individual

preferences‘ influencing their academic achievement especially in Islamic private

schools.

Secondly, the results of this study can be beneficial for teachers, educators,

educational psychologists and counselors in Thai schools especially in Islamic private

schools to gain a better understanding of students and their learning styles. Most of the

time, teachers prepare their lesson plans or their instruction based on a ‗one size fits

all‘ pattern to students. This way of teaching and assigning instruction will merely

benefit certain students, not all. Other students who have different preferences in

carrying out their academic capacity will lose their interest and focus, and tend to fail

to produce high academic achievement in the class. However, by understanding

students‘ thinking styles, teachers can practically improve and vary their ways of

teaching and the ways that instructions are given, so that they suits every students‘

preferences. Bloom (1976) asserted the importance of adjusting the way of teaching

and the different ways lessons were carried out, to enable students to get different

academic results. When students are assigned to do tasks, and the instructions given

make them feel comfortable, the curve of academic success will be improved. As

Sternberg and Grigorenko (1997) asserted, the practical advantage of thinking styles is

for teachers to use the result in differentiating instructions with an ultimate goal to

extend academic success among students. This is because when teachers recognize the

convenient way in dealing with tasks of students, teachers will be able to differentiate

8

instructions accordingly and as a result students will have better academic

achievement. When students have high academic achievement, they have more chance

to pursue a high quality of education in the next educational levels.

In conclusion, as stated earlier, the findings of the current study were intended

to be beneficial both theoretically and practically for education. As empirical research,

it fills the gap for educational research done pertaining to thinking style and its

relation with academic achievement in Thailand. Apart from that, its findings can be

used as a tool for teachers to adjust their instructions based on students‘ preferences in

utilizing their utmost academic capacity.

1.7 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Sternberg‘s theory consisted of 13 ways of thinking, which fall under five categories

of mental self-government. However, this study only focuses on the functional

dimension, which includes three styles of thinking: legislative, executive, and judicial

styles. The reason why these styles were targeted in this study is not only because the

legislative and judicial styles represent creativity and analysis which are the feature

components of the enrolled specialization of the researcher, but they are also

frequently considered to be among the most essential 21st century skills that students

should have (Lee, Jukes & Churches, 2011). While executive styles represent the lack

of utilizing creativity and making evaluation, thus students who hold this style are

more likely to do task based activities with clear instructions.

Moreover, the population of this study is from 3 selected Islamic private

schools in Muang district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Thailand namely: 1)

Islamic Santitham Foundation School, 2) Prateepsasana Islamic School and 3)

Almuwahid in School. Thus, making generalizations must be carefully addressed. One

9

of the reasons for choosing these three schools is the convenience to the researcher in

traveling to collect data. The second reason is that the chosen schools are well reputed

in the area and they are the three biggest Islamic private schools in Muang district.

Hence, they provide the scope to have more students for the present study.

The student participants were categorized into 3 levels of academic

achievements, which are low-achievers, average-achievers and high-achievers based

on the O-NET (Ordinary National Educational Test) score of students — the standard

tests for students of the whole country.

Basically, the O-NET takes place only once a year for students of Grade 6

(Prathom Suksa 6), Grade 9 (Matthayom Suksa 3) and Grade 12 (Matthayom Suska 6).

This study selected students from Grade 10 (Mathayom Suksa 4) who have taken O-

NET while studying grade 9 as participants. The researcher chose students who took

the O-NET in Grade 9 and continued to Grade 10 in the same school for ease of

access to the O-NET score that can only be provided by the schools where they took

the O-NET. Therefore, the O-NET scores of the students in 2015 were collected in

2016 during which year this study was conducted.

Since this is an academic achievement study, it utilized the scores from thr

Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) that takes place annually in November.

However, this test was done in 2015 while the self-assessment for Thinking Styles

Inventory was done a year later. This research, therefore, has a limitation in terms of

the fact that the most recent performance in academic achievement might have

changed within the one year period.

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1.8 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Since the thinking style used in this study is derived from the MSG or Mental Self-

government Theory, which was developed by Sternberg in 1994. Out of thirteen

thinking styles, merely the three of them that fall under the ‗function‘ dimension were

targeted in this study and they are all regarded as independent variables while three

academic achievement groups were considered as dependent variables. Thus, this

study aims to analyze thinking styles of students in Islamic private schools in the

sense of their preference in handling their academic work. Furthermore, it also seeks

to determine the best predictor among thinking styles that contribute to a students‘

academic achievement group. The graphical theoretical framework for the current

research is illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 1.1 Theoretical Framework based on Mental Self-Government Theory

Function dimension of

Sternberg & Wagner’s

TSI (1991)

1) Legislative

2) Executive

3) Judicial

Academic Achievement

groups

1) Low-achievers

2) Average-achievers

3) High-achievers

Students’ Thinking

Styles

(TSI) based on

Mental Self-

government

Best predictor

Measured by

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1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

Thinking Styles

There are 13 styles under Sternberg‘s mental self-government, however, only three

styles under function dimension: Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

Function Dimension

Basically, there are five dimensions that comprise the mental self-government of

Sternberg‘s theory, namely function, form, scope, level and learning. Function is one

of the five dimensions and includes legislative, executive, and judicial. Sternberg and

Wagner (1991, p.1) have explained that these three primary functions ―are reflected

both in the types of mental processes and problems that utilize them and in terms of

the styles that they generate‖.

Legislative Styles

Sternberg and Wagner (1991, p.2) describe a person with legislative styles as ―a

person who enjoys creating, formulating, and planning for problem solutions‖. Instead

of being told, a student who has legislative style prefers to be the one who decide how

things are going to be done in his or her own favorite way (Sternberg & Zhang, 2005).

Executive Styles

This style describes an individual that prefers the tasks that provide rules, guidelines

or clear instructions to follow. Thus, students who have preference in this style of

thinking may be viewed as ‗an implementer‘. They prefer ―those mental functions

involved in implementing, not in planning cognitive and other activity‖ (Sternberg &

Wagner, 1991, p.2).