The effect of ARCS-V designed flipped-classroom English writing education on critical thinking disposition, metacognitive writing awareness and willingness to communicate

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an 8-week English writing training program conducted in a flipped classroom environment, which was designed using the ARCS-V instructional design model. The focus was on high school students' critical thinking disposition, metacognitive writing awareness, and willingness to communicate in English. The research was conducted using a fully experimental research method. Participants included 44 high school sophomores from Denizli High School, Cumhuriyet Anatolian High School, and Durmuş Ali Çoban Anatolian High School in the Merkez Efendi district of Denizli province during the 2023-2024 academic year. Students were invited through convenience sampling and volunteered to participate in the study. Data were collected through pre-tests and post-tests using an instrument that included scales for critical thinking disposition, metacognitive writing awareness, and willingness to communicate in English, along with a personal information form. Prior to the 2023-2024 academic year, two distinct 8-week English writing programs were developed based on the learning outcomes established by the Ministry of National Education. The students in the study were randomly divided into experimental and control groups, and a pre-test was administered to both groups. The control group received writing instruction using an eclectic method, while the experimental group was taught through a writing program designed using the ARCS-V instructional design model and implemented in a flipped classroom format. Shapiro-Wilk test was employed to determine whether the data followed a normal distribution. For variables that were normally distributed, independent samples Student's t-test and paired samples Student's t-test were used for analysis. In contrast, the Mann-Whitney U rank-sum test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were applied to analyze non-normally distributed variables. The results of the study indicated that an 8-week English writing program, conducted in a flipped classroom environment designed with the ARCS-V instructional design model, did not produce a statistically significant effect on high school students' critical thinking disposition, metacognitive writing awareness, or willingness to communicate in English. This lack of effectiveness was evident both in the total scores of the scales and in the individual sub-dimensions. The findings of the study were discussed in relation to prior research, leading to recommendations for students, educators, researchers, and curriculum developers.