The Effectiveness of a Self-Questioning Strategy at Developing Academic Achievement and Critical-Thinking Skills among Secondary-School Students in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aims to examine how effective a self-questioning strategy is at developing academic achievement and critical-thinking skills in the jurisprudence curriculum (Fiqh), followed by secondary-school students. The research sample is taken from secondary-school students in Dammam, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA); 64 students from two different schools were selected: 32 as a control and 32 as an experimental group. The research instruments consist of an achievement test, a test to see how critical-thinking skills are applied to the Fiqh curriculum, and a teachers’ guide to teaching the Fiqh curriculum, using the self-questioning strategy. The study recommends the use of the self-questioning strategy when teaching the Fiqh curriculum to secondary-school students. It also highlights the need to raise teachers’ awareness of the importance of teaching critical-thinking skills. Considering the research results and recommendations, the researchers recommend several further avenues of research related to the current research variables.