Effectiveness of the West and Pines Model in Developing Integrative Thinking and Scientific Passion among Fifth-Grade Literary Students in Geography

Abstract

The current study aimed to verify the effectiveness of the West and Pines model in developing integrative thinking and scientific passion among a sample of fifth-grade literary students. An experimental approach was followed with a two-group design (control and experimental), consisting of a sample of 66 students, with 35 students in the experimental group studying according to the West and Pines model and 31 students in the control group studying according to the conventional method. To achieve the study's objectives, the researcher designed two main tools: an integrative thinking test consisting of 22 items and a scientific passion scale consisting of 30 items. After verifying their psychometric properties, the tools were applied to the sample. The study found statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group on each tool in both the pre- and post-tests, as well as statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the two groups in the post-test, favoring the experimental group. The study recommended conducting workshops and training programs to train teachers on how to use the West and Pines model in teaching, avoiding reliance on methods based on memorization and rote learning. It also suggested utilizing the West and Pines model in teaching social studies in general, and geographical topics in particular, due to its high positive impact on developing integrative thinking and scientific passion among students. Additionally, it proposed conducting new descriptive studies to investigate the relationship between integrative thinking and learning motivation among other student samples, as well as conducting new experimental studies on measuring the effectiveness of the West and Pines model in geographical thinking among other student samples