John Kevin A. Artuz^1,, Dennis B. Roble¹

Mathematics is an essential subject in the Philippines Department of Education (DepEd) K-12 curriculum that requires critical thinking abilities because it is crucial in everyday life along with the growth of other sciences. However, the majority of Filipino students had difficulty understanding mathematical concepts that require higher-order cognitive skills. As a result, students' mathematical process abilities, such as critical thinking, must be strengthened. This study aimed to develop students' critical thinking in mathematics in an online-POGIL environment. The study was conducted to second-year Early Childhood Education students of Pangantucan Bukidnon Community College during the first term of the academic year 2020-2021. It utilized a quasi-experimental Pretest-Post Test Control Group research design. A validated 6-item teacher-made test for critical thinking skills with a reliability coefficient of 0.752 was used to measure students’ critical thinking performance with a rubric scale adapted from St. Petersburg College. Mean and standard deviation was used to evaluate students’ pretest and posttest scores in the critical thinking skills test. A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the significant effect of O-POGIL on students’ critical thinking skills. The findings showed that O-POGIL motivates students to actively participate in activities and improves their learning. Furthermore, students exposed to O-POGIL showed a substantial improvement, demonstrated on communication, analysis, and problem-solving in mathematics. To improve students' critical thinking skills, it is advised to employ the O-POGIL teaching methodology and design resources based on the O-POGIL construct. Other 21st-century process skills that O-POGIL could build and enhance can be researched further.

guided inquiry learning, online-process oriented guided inquiry learning, Polya’s problem solving, critical thinking skills in mathematics