A Critical Reading Model Based on the Brain's Natural Learning Systems and Metacognition: A Quasi-Experimental Study with Indonesian Fifth-Graders

Background Critical reading — the capacity to interpret, evaluate, and reflect on texts — is an essential competency for lifelong learning, yet many education systems, including Indonesia, continue to report weak performance in the elementary years on international assessments such as PISA and PIRLS. Although Given’s Brain’s Natural Learning Systems (BNLS) theory has informed several instructional models, existing implementations position reflection as only one component of learning and do not integrate metacognitive regulation across all instructional phases or assess it as a distinct learning outcome. Methods This study developed and tested the Brain-Based Analytical-Metacognitive (BBAM) Model, which operationalizes BNLS together with metacognitive regulation through five sequential phases: Activation, Exploration, Analysis, Reflection, and Evaluation. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, 54 fifth-grade students (experimental n = 29; control n = 25) in Bogor, Indonesia, were assessed using a validated 30-point instrument covering structural understanding, inference-making, evaluative thinking, author’s purpose identification, and reflective response. Results The experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in critical reading than the control group (p < .001), with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.45). Conclusions The study contributes an empirically validated instructional model that repositions metacognitive regulation from a reflective component to a cross-phase learning mechanism, while operationalizing BNLS into classroom practice, together with a five-dimensional framework for assessing critical reading at the elementary level.