TITLE: Beyond Pretest-Posttest: Indicator-Specific Trajectories of Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills in Multiliteracy Project-Based Science Learning

Abstract This study examined whether endpoint comparisons adequately represent changes in critical thinking and problem-solving during multiliteracy project-based science learning. We conducted a secondary analysis of repeated assessment data from 27 Grade VII students participating in a field evaluation of a project-based learning model with multiliteracy pedagogy. The reconstructed dataset comprised 2,160 observations across eight occasions and ten indicators. We summarized indicator and domain means and fitted separate generalized estimating equation models with an exchangeable working correlation and robust sandwich standard errors to estimate within-unit trends. Mean critical-thinking scores increased from 74.00 at P1 to 85.85 at P8, while problem-solving scores increased from 77.67 to 88.52. However, the piecewise models did not indicate statistically significant linear change within either instructional unit. Both domains showed a marked increase between P4 and P5, coinciding with a transition from interactions among living organisms to environmental pollution and a change in assessment context. This discontinuity cannot therefore be treated as evidence of a developmental turning point. The findings demonstrate the value of repeated indicator-level analysis for distinguishing endpoint differences from within-sequence patterns and highlight the need to examine assessment comparability when tracking complex learning outcomes.