Purpose: Low achievement in mathematics remains a critical concern in supporting students’ meaningful learning and cognitive development. This study explored the critical thinking skills of junior high school students with low mathematics achievement. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the structures of students’ critical thinking based on the FRISCO framework, encompassing Focus, Reasons, Inference, Situation, Clarity, and Overview. Methodology: This study adopted a qualitative case study design to provide an in-depth understanding of students’ critical thinking structures. Ten seventh-grade students with low mathematics achievement were purposively selected as participants. Data were collected through open-ended algebraic Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) tasks and semi-structured follow-up interviews. The collected data were subsequently analyzed using content analysis to identify patterns and characteristics of students’ critical thinking processes. Findings: The findings indicate that most participants encountered substantial difficulties in identifying core problems, recognizing procedural errors, providing justification, and formulating valid conclusions. Two dominant patterns emerged: (1) absence of focus accompanied by invalid reasoning and false inference; and (2) presence of focus without adequate reasoning, with limited inferential coherence. Significance: These findings indicate that students’ critical thinking remains insufficiently developed and point to the need for more systematic and structured pedagogical support in algebraic HOTS contexts.
Hendra Kartika, Daiki Urayama, S. Mutmainah et al.· Journal of Research in Scien...· 1 citation
BACKGROUND
Hounsfield Units (HU) derived from CT scans are a promising bone mineral density surrogate in pediatrics, yet their reliability in patients with scoliosis and significant lumbar tilt remains unknown. We investigated the reliability of HU measurements in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), particularly addressing the impact of spinal tilt.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed lumbar CT images of 11- to 19-year-old AIS patients who underwent posterior spinal fusion (July 2007-March 2024). HU values and lumbar tilt were measured at L1, L3, and L5. Reliability was assessed using intra-rater (N = 36), inter-rater (N = 30), and equivalence datasets (N = 62) comparing standard pelvis-parallel images versus images reconstructed parallel to the vertebral body.
RESULTS
Both intra-rater (ICC(1,1) > 0.95) and inter-rater (ICC(2,1) > 0.80) reliability were excellent. Measurements from standard pelvis-parallel images and reconstructed images showed stable overall equivalence (ICC(3,1) = 0.96). However, the percentage of cases with an HU value difference of 20 or more was 11.3% when the lumbar tilt angle was 10 degrees or greater, compared to 5.6% when the tilt angle was below 9 degrees.
CONCLUSION
Our analyses for AIS patients showed that vertebral HU measurements are reliable when using vertebral-parallel reconstructed images but standard pelvis-parallel images lose reliability with significant tilt. While our findings do not promote routine CT usage, our validated methodology provides a baseline technique that could potentially be applied to complex, high-risk cases where osteoporosis is prevalent and critical for surgical planning.
Kosei Nagata, K. Nakajima, Hiroyuki Nakarai et al.· Spine Deformity· 0 citations
