Abstract:

From researches and experiments conducted by various organizations, it is found that the majority of Thai students do not succeed in studying mathematics, in particular in the areas of content and thinking processes. This is consistent with the result of problematic survey in the real context. The problems of mathematics learning can be concluded in three areas as follows:-
1) Problem solving abilities: the majority of students cannot effectively understand and analyze mathematics problems due to the lack of knowledge and skill in figuring out appropriate solutions to solve the problems. Therefore, they cannot calculate to find a correct answer or cannot reversely analyze an answer back to a problem. 2) Mathematics Communication abilities: the majority of students cannot write or present by using appropriate language, mathematics symbols, and counting pictures. In addition, they cannot translate meaning to effective communicate their thoughts and opinions, as well as exchange the information and knowledge on mathematics with others. 3) Mathematics Connection abilities: The majority of students cannot link their existed knowledge into mathematics content, as well as cannot link mathematics content into other subject areas and every life

This research has 2 key objectives which are (1) to develop instructional model by integrating problem-based learning approach and collaborative learning approach to enhance mathematical problem solving, communication, and connection abilities of sixth grade students, and (2) to study the outcomes of the above-mentioned instructional model by comparing the pre-learning and post-learning of an experimental group, as well as comparing an experimental group and a control group.

The research methodology on the development of instructional model by integrating problem-based learning approach and collaborative learning approach to enhance mathematical problem solving, communication, and connection abilities of sixth grade students includes five implementation steps as follows: -
Step 1: Study needs and problem situation;
Step 2: Study thoughts, theories, and researches which are related to instructional model development;
Step 3: Develop a model, examine a model, and experiment its application;
Step 4: Develop research tools and assess its quality;
Step 5: Evaluate the quality of the developed instructional model.

The research result development of instructional model is 4 steps, including (1) drawing attention by encountering challenging questions, (2) eagerly conducting knowledge searching, (3) collaborating in evaluating knowledge based on group consensus, and (4) applying the developed instructional processes. And the research result will be thoroughly criticized after being experimented with a sample, which is a group of 24 sixth grade students at Taranaram Temple School, Surat-thani province in Southern Thailand.

Keywords:

Collaborative Learning, Communication Abilities, Connection Abilities, Instructional Model, Mathematical Problem Solving, Problem-Based Learning.