The Development of Reading Literacy using the KWL-Plus Learning Management Combined with Local Information from Pathum Thani Province for Grade 7 Students

Abstract

Background and Aims: Reading literacy is an essential skill that fosters wisdom, critical thinking, self-development, and adaptability in today's society, where information is diverse and easily accessible. The researcher therefore employed the KWL-Plus learning model in conjunction with local information from Pathum Thani Province to design learning activities aimed at enhancing the reading literacy of Grade 7 students in Pathum Thani Province. The objectives were 1) to compare the reading literacy of Grade 7 students before and after receiving instruction using the KWL-Plus learning model combined with local information from Pathum Thani Province, and 2) to assess the reading literacy development of Grade 7 students after the implementation of the KWL-Plus learning model with local information from Pathum Thani Province.

Methodology: The sample group included 30 Grade 7 students from Thammasat Klongluang Wittayakhom School, in the first semester of the 2024 academic year, selected through multi-stage random sampling. The tools used in the research were: 1) seven learning management plans, with an overall average score of 4.76, indicating a very high level of appropriateness, and 2) a reading literacy test, with an IOC ranging from 0.80 to 1.00, item difficulty between 0.20 and 0.73, item discrimination ranging from 0.20 to 0.80, and a reliability score of 0.84. The statistics used in the research included percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and relative development score.

Results: The research findings revealed that 1) the comparison of reading literacy scores of Grade 7 students before and after receiving instruction using the KWL-Plus learning model combined with local information from Pathum Thani Province showed that post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores at the .05 level, and 2) The assessment results of the relative progress in reading literacy of Grade 7 students after learning through the KWL-Plus method, combined with local data from Pathum Thani Province, show that the overall relative progress in reading literacy was at a very high level (x̅ = 75.55).

Conclusion: The development of reading literacy through the use of the KWL-Plus learning model combined with local information from Pathum Thani Province for Grade 7 students provides teachers, schools, and educational service areas with a framework for designing learning activities. This can be adapted for classroom instruction to enhance students' reading abilities.