Bambang Abduljabar, Lutfi Nur, Ade Yulianto
Background. This study addresses the need to enhance cognitive-reflective competencies in physical education, which often prioritizes mastering basic sports skills at the expense of cognitive development. In the information era, critical thinking is a crucial cognitive-reflective skill that must be fostered. Objectives. The study aimed to examine the structural design of instructional didactics and to assess changes in the difficulty levels of critical thinking among students in physical education settings. Materials and methods. A posttest-only control group design was employed, with critical thinking data collected after the physical education sessions. The study involved two groups: an experimental class that integrated cognitive learning through tennis and a control class that participated in futsal extracurricular activities, each comprising 30 junior high school students (aged 13-14 years). Results. Results analyzed using RASCH modelling revealed significant shifts in critical thinking difficulty levels. Specifically, indicators of critical thinking, including inference, assumption recognition, deductive reasoning, interpretation, and argument assessment, showed a 70% reduction in difficulty for students in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. Conclusions. These findings suggest that cognitive-reflective learning in physical education can significantly enhance students’ critical thinking abilities, with students in the experimental class demonstrating higher critical thinking skills than their counterparts in the control group. © Abduljabar, B., Nur, L., & Yulianto, A., 2025.
Department of Teacher Education Magister specialize in Physical Education Teacher Education of Post Graduate School of the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, Indonesia; School of Postgraduate Studies, Building 6th Floor, Jalan Setiabudhi no 229, Bandung, Indonesia; Departement of Elementary School Teacher Education at the Tasikmalaya Campus of the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, Indonesia; Jl. Dadaha No.18, Kahuripan, Kec. Tawang, Kota, Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
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