The Effectiveness of 21st Century Competency Assessment Model and HOTS in Improving Writing Skills: An Experimental Research

The Research examines the effectiveness of a 21st Century Competency and Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)-based writing assessment model in improving students' writing skills. The research employs an experimental design with two groups: an experimental group that participated in HOTS and 21st Century Competency-based learning, and a control group that followed conventional learning methods. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test evaluations to measure students' writing abilities across various text types, such as observation report texts, biographies, procedures, explanations, editorials, and articles. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 24 and Microsoft Excel. The findings reveal a significant difference in writing skills between the group using the HOTS and 21st Century Competency-based assessment model and the control group. The Mann-Whitney test indicated that the significance value for the post-test across all text types was 0.000, which is less than 0.05, meaning H0 was rejected and a significant difference was observed. The HOTS-based learning approach proved to be more effective in enhancing students' writing skills, as it encourages critical and creative thinking, enabling students to produce more structured and meaningful writing. These findings support the theory that a 21st Century Competency-based approach, which integrates higher-order thinking skills, can lead to significant improvements in students' writing abilities.