Exploring the Structure and Level of Senior High School Students’ Scientific Higher-order Thinking Skills in Science Education

This study aimed to determine the level of Scientific Higher Order Thinking Skills (S-HOTS) of the Grade 11 students in selected schools of Zamboanguita Districts 1 and 2, Negros Oriental. The researcher utilized a descriptive-correlational survey and employed systematic random sampling. The respondents of the study were the 148 senior high school students from the two public high schools in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental. The researcher used a validated survey questionnaire and employed percent, weighted mean, mean, and Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient in treating the data. Findings showed that students exhibit high levels of S-HOTS across multiple dimensions, including critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, science self-efficacy, and scientific reasoning. The data also unveiled that students' overall Earth and Life Science and Physical Science performance is categorized as 'satisfactory’. Moreover, the study found that the students' metacognition and science self-efficacy are significantly correlated to their academic performance. However, no significant relationships were observed between academic performance and the following variables: critical thinking, creative thinking, and scientific reasoning. Educators might focus on improving students’ abilities to integrate and reorganize information creatively, encouraging more practice in activities like problem-based learning, project work, or tasks that require reimagining concepts in new ways.