Enhancing reflective thinking through active learning: a study on eighth-level undergraduate students in the history program

Reflective thinking skills are critical for students’ academic and professional development, enabling them to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and propose meaningful solutions. Recent studies have noted ongoing challenges in fostering reflective thinking in higher education, particularly in humanities disciplines. To address these concerns, the present study examined the effectiveness of active learning strategies in enhancing reflective thinking skills among undergraduate history students. Specifically, it investigated the integration of strategies such as brainstorming, problem-solving, storytelling, role-playing, and think-pair-share into the teaching of the unit ‘The Far East after World War II’. A quasi-experimental one-group design with pre- and post-tests was employed, involving a purposive sample of 29 eighth-level students enrolled in the History Program at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University. The reflective thinking test measured five dimensions: visual vision, detecting fallacies, drawing conclusions, providing convincing explanations, and suggesting solutions. Results showed statistically significant improvements across all dimensions, with large effect sizes. These findings suggest that active learning fosters higher-order thinking and critical engagement in history education. The study recommends embedding active learning strategies into history curricula, training faculty, and developing evidence-based teaching resources. Future research should examine the long-term impacts of these strategies and their adaptability across disciplines and learning contexts.