Pembelajaran Fisika
http://jurnal.untirta.ac.id/index.php/Gravity
ISSN: 244-515x; e-ISSN: 2528-1976 Vol. 9, No. 1, February 2023, Page 46-54
Improving students' critical thinking skills through the application of a contextual STEAM-based electricity kit
Putri Rahmaddani1, Fakhruddin Z1*, Nur Islami1, Retni Khairina2
1Department of Physics Education, Universitas Riau, Indonesia
2SMP Muhammadiyah Kuok, Kampar, Indonesia
*E-mail: [email protected]
(Received: 30 November 2022; Accepted: 15 February 2023; Published: 27 February 2023)
ABSTRACT
The nation's current generation must master 21st-century skills, including critical thinking skills, to face today's world competition with rapid technological advances. This contextual STEAM-based electrical KIT aims to describe students' necessary thinking abilities and discover the differences in critical thinking abilities between the experimental and control classes. The design used in the study, namely the post-test-only control group and the type of quasi-experimental research. This study included all class IX students of SMP Muhammadiyah Kuok TA.2022/2023 as a population. A sample of 47 students consisted of class IX.1 as the experimental group and category IX.2 as the control group. Posttest critical thinking skills in dynamic electricity material comprised 12 multiple choice questions previously tested for validity and reliability as a data collection instrument. The average posttest results of students' critical thinking skills were used for descriptive analysis with SPSS version 25, and normality, homogeneity, and hypothesis tests were used for inferential analysis. This study shows that students' critical thinking skills regarding dynamic electricity material can be improved by applying contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT contextual learning. This can be seen in the average value obtained in the experimental class is better than the control class.
Keywords: Contextual steam-based electricity kit, critical thinking skills, dynamic electricity DOI: 10.30870/gravity.v9i1.18702
INTRODUCTION
The progress of a nation is greatly helped by qualified human resources (HR). Efforts to produce quality human resources (HR) can be carried out through quality education, so
education is not just an activity related to learning but also a necessity. Learning in education not only plays a role in increasing knowledge but also educates the character and abilities of students. Understanding aims to improve one's behavior and views, so education is critical to support the progress of the nation (Puspita et al., 2017: 78). The current demands and challenges for the education industry to continue to grow are the rapid developments in science and technology, one of which is the needs of the 21st century that Indonesia is currently facing.
The 21st century is a century where there has been rapid development in all aspects, including science, technology, and the dissemination of information. Human resources (HR) must be able to handle this in the 21st century. Based on the perspective of Doringin, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity, and innovation are 21st-century skills known as 4C (Hanifah et al., 2019: 593).
Middle school students in Indonesia currently still have deficient critical thinking skills, as evidenced by the findings on an international scale from the four-year Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) using the characteristics of high cognitive level questions that can measure students' critical thinking abilities (Karim, 2015: 92). The findings of the TIMMS study are supported by other research, namely Yani's research (2021:6) which states that students in Kuok Kampar District cannot think critically. Therefore, the vital role played by the teacher in improving students' critical thinking skills must be developed again. During class, teachers can help students develop their critical thinking skills.
The teacher's teaching approach is essential for the learning process. The atmosphere of the learning process is very closely related to the learning approach; using the right system will create a more engaging learning environment, thereby increasing activity and critical and creative thinking skills (Puspita et al., 2020: 83). In reality, education in schools continues to be categorized as passive because many teachers use inappropriate methods, which results in a boring class atmosphere and a lack of student interest (Sari, 2021: 1). The STEAM approach is one approach that can help students develop their critical thinking skills.
Science, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) in education is an educational approach that combines art, mathematics, science, technology, engineering, and art to foster creative thinking and critical thinking in everyday life (Winarni et al., 2016: 976). Dewi, Kaniawati, and Suwarma (2018: 382) stated that the development of STEAM is learning that incorporates problems from everyday life into the learning process, so the STEAM approach can improve students' critical thinking skills by having a positive impact where learning becomes more meaningful. As a result, the STEAM approach is appropriate to touch contextual learning in schools.
The function of laboratories in Indonesia still needs to be utilized, especially in science learning. Several factors cause this, including inadequate laboratory facilities, much laboratory equipment being damaged, the laboratory needing to be used correctly, and there are tools and materials that have been provided but need to be fixed (Nahdiyaturrahmah et al., 2020: 120).
Learning in the laboratory offers opportunities for students to conduct experiments and learn KIT tools, one of which is the electric KIT. The lack of use of KIT tools makes learning less than optimal, and the results of using KIT tools have not touched contextual learning, so learning is still abstract.
Learning that teaches students to apply what they know in real life is known as contextual learning. Contextual learning allows educators to connect the content they teach with students' real-life experiences. (Afrani, 2018: 84). Therefore, the contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT is used in dynamic electricity learning to achieve this contextual learning. Students consider learning about dynamic electricity quite difficult because the subject's connection with everyday life is so close and complicated (Suparno, 2013: 56).
The description shows that teachers as educators are expected to be able to utilize contextual STEAM-based electrical KITs in school laboratories through experimental learning to improve students' critical thinking skills. Therefore, the research entitled "Improving Students' Critical Thinking Skills Through the Application of Contextual STEAM-Based Electricity Kits" is of interest to the authors for research.
RESEARCH METHODS
The post-test-only control group research model is used in this type of quasi-experimental research. The experimental and control groups are the two sample groups in this quasi- experimental design (Hasanah et al., 2018: 130). The contextual STEAM-based electric KIT was used by the experimental group in this study, while the control group used the conventional magnetic electric KIT. Table 1 describes the post-test-only control group design.
Table 1. Post test only control group design
iCategory iTreatment iPost-test
iExperiment iX iO1
iControl - iO2
(Source: Sugiyono, 2017: 48)
The research was conducted at the PMIPA FKIP Laboratory and Muhammadiyah Kuok Middle School, Kuok District, Kampar Regency, Riau Province. The time for research is October–December in the odd semester of the 2022/2023 academic year. All class IX students at Muhammadiyah Kuok Middle School are the population in this study, totaling 71 students.
The sample consisted of 47 students, with class IX.1 as the control group with 23 students and class IX.2 as the experimental group with 24 students. The sampling technique was carried out using a simple random sampling technique, with the condition that the randomly selected population must be uniform and normally distributed.
The post-test of critical thinking skills was used to collect data with 12 questions based on six indicators of students' critical thinking skills: interpretation, evaluation, analysis, inference, and self-regulation. Experts and empirical testing have validated the questions, tested their reliability, and obtained a reliability value of 0.81 with a very high category. Therefore, the questions used are very feasible to use. After obtaining the results, the results will be analyzed by descriptive and inferential analysis. Sugiyono (2017: 147) emphasizes descriptive analysis is a statistical method that aims to describe data without drawing general conclusions.
Students' critical thinking skills can be identified by referencing the classification table for critical thinking skills based on student scores, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Classification of critical thinking skills based on student values
iValue Classification
i80 < x ≤ 100 Very high
i60 < x ≤ 80 High
i40 < x ≤ 60 Mediumi
i20 < x ≤ 40 Low
i0 < x ≤ 20 Very lowi
(Source: Syah, 2019: 76)
Inferential statistical analysis is an analytical method that aims to analyze samples and apply the results to the population (Sugiyono, 2017: 209). Inferential data analysis was carried out by carrying out a normality test to determine whether the data were normally distributed using the Shapiro-Wilk test and the homogeneity test to determine whether the sample distribution was homogeneous or not as a condition before conducting hypothesis testing.
Assisted by SPSS version 25, the Independent Sample T-Test is used for hypothesis testing.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The research entitled "Improving Students' Critical Thinking Skills through the Use of Contextual STEAM-Based Electrical KIT" consists of 2 (two) variables, namely the independent variable and the dependent variable. Critical thinking ability is the dependent variable, and contextual STEAM-based electrical KIT is the independent variable. Contextual STEAM-based electrical KIT is a treatment applied to one experimental class in this study.
The result data being analyzed is the post-test results of critical thinking skills by applying contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT and conventional magnetic electricity KIT on dynamic electricity material.
Table 3. Students' critical thinking skills on each indicator
No. iIndicator iExperiment Class iControl Class
iAverage iiCategory iMedian iCategory
1 iInterpretation i56,25 iMedium i28,26 iLow
2 iAnalysis i83,33 iVery high i34,79 iLow
3 iiEvaluation i33,34 iLow i34,79 iLow
4 Inference i60,42 iHigh i52,18 iMedium
5 iExplanation i27,09 iLow i21,74 iLow
6 Self
Regulation i70,83 iHigh i52,18 iMedium
iiClass Average i55,21 iMedium i37,32 iiLow
iiStandard
Deviation i21,54 i18,78
(Source: Researcher data, 2022)
Students' critical thinking skills were measured using post-test questions, which consisted of 12 objective questions that had been validated and tested for reliability. On the validity test,
respectively 91.7%, 95.8%, and 93.8% fall into content, construct, and language validity. At the same time, the questions are beneficial because the reliability test has a value of 0.81 and is in a very high category. Table 3 displays the post-test results for each indicator measuring students' critical thinking skills. The average experimental class is higher than the control class, as shown in Table 3. In the medium category, the middle class for the contextual steam-based electric kit is 55.21, while in the low category, the conventional magnetic electric kit class is 37, 32. Table 4 illustrates the distribution of data on the critical thinking skills test.
Table 4. Description of the number of students based on the results of the critical thinking ability test
iValue iClassification
iExperiment Class iControl Class
The Number
of Students
Percentage (%)
The Number
of Student
s
Percentage (%)
ii80 < x ≤ 100 iVery High i2 i8,33 i0 i0,00
i60 < x ≤ 80 iHigh i8 i33,33 i3 i13,04
i40 < x ≤ 60 iMedium i10 i41,67 i6 i26,09
i20 < x ≤ 40 iLow i1 i4,17 i9 i39,13
i0 < x ≤ 20 iVery Low i3 i12,50 i5 i21,74
iTotal i24 i100 i23 i100
(Source: Researcher data, 2022)
Contextual Steam -based Electricity Kits have a more significant critical thinking student distribution in their class, as shown in Table 4. 8.33% of students in the experimental class receive a very high assessment for critical thinking skills, while there are no students in the control class get grades very high for the ability to think critically. The difference in the average value between the experimental class and the control class was 17.89. The difference in the average research is positive; based on the classification of decision-making, it can be concluded that using a contextual steam-based electricity kit increases students' ability to think critically.
Figure 1 shows that post-test data reveals the differences in critical thinking skills of each indicator between the two classes that receive different treatments.
Figure 1. Diagram Comparison of the average value of the critical thinking ability of each indicator Figure 1 shows that overall the average value of students' critical thinking skills in the experimental class in all questions is higher than in the control class except on the indicator of the fifth problem evaluation and explanatory questions.
1. Interpretation
The ability of students to understand and communicate the meaning of the problem is known as interpretation (Hayudiyani et al., 2017: 22). The first question of the experimental class and the control class gained an average value of 37.5% and 17.39%. In the second question, the experimental and control classes obtained an average of 75% and 39.13%. So students' critical thinking skills are accepted on the interpretation indicator in the experimental class of 56.25% and the control class of 28.26%. These results indicate that students critical thinking ability on interpretation indicators in the experimental class that applies a contextual steam-based electricity kit is better than the control class that uses a conventional magnetic electric kit. According to Rahmawati's research, Masykuri and Surwanto (2019: 176), the interpretation indicator explains the understanding of the information received.
2. Analysis
The ability of students to identify and conclude the relationship between all forms of information is known as analysis (Hayudiyani et al., 2017: 22). The third question of the experimental class and the control class gained an average value of 79.17% and 43.48%. The four experimental and control classes obtained an average of 87.5% and 26.09%. So students' critical thinking skills are accepted on the analysis indicator in the experimental class of 83.34%
and the control class of 34.79%. These results indicate that students' critical thinking ability on the analysis indicator in the experimental class that applies a contextual steam-based electricity kit is better than the control class that uses a conventional magnetic power kit. To Rahmawati's research, Masykuri and Surwanto (2019: 176) believe that this factor is supported by the habits and experiences of students from experiments that were memorable for them.
3. Evaluation
Evaluation is the student's ability to assess the credibility of statements or representations and determine the relationship between the information provided logically. (Hayudiyani et al., 2017: 22). The five questions of the experimental and control classes obtained an average value of 12.5% and 21.74%. In the sixth question, the experimental and control classes got an average
37,5
75 79,17 87,5
12,5
54,17 58,33 62,5
12,5 41,67
58,33 83,33
17,39
39,1343,48
26,0921,74
47,8356,52 47,83
21,7421,74 34,78
69,57
100 2030 4050 6070 8090 100
The average value of critical thinking ability
Question critical thinking skillls
Experiment Class Control Class
value of 54.17% and 47.83%. To get students' critical thinking skills on evaluation indicators in the experimental class of 33.34% and the control class of 34.79%. So it was found that students' essential skills of thinking on evaluation indicators in the experimental class that applied contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT were similar to the control class that used conventional electricity KIT. The difference in the average value of the experimental and control classes is 1.45%.
The question is examined. This can happen because students' critical thinking skills need to improve in evaluating questions. Students do not understand we determine the size of the replacement obstacle along with the right reasons, so they are stuck with the answer choices given.
4. Inference
According to Hayudiyani et al. (2017:22), inference is students' ability to identify and obtain the information needed to conclude. ). The questions for the seven experimental and control classes got average scores of 58.33% and 56.52%. The questions for the eight experiment and control classes obtained average scores of 62.5% and 47.83%. To get students' critical thinking skills on analysis indicators in the experimental class of 60.42% and in the control class of 52.18%. This shows that students' critical thinking skills on inference indicators in the experimental class that apply the contextual STEAM-based electric KIT are better than the control class that uses conventional magnetic-electric KIT. Students in the experimental class can find and obtain the data needed to conclude.
5. Explanation
The ability of students to determine and give reasons logically based on the results obtained is called explanation (Hayudiyani et al., 2017: 22). The nine experimental class questions and the control class obtained an average value of 12.5% and 21.74%. In the tenth question, the experimental and control classes averaged 41.67% and 21.74%. To obtain students' critical thinking skills on analysis indicators in the experimental class of 27.09% and the control class of 21.74%. These results indicate that students' critical thinking skills on explanation indicators in the experimental class that apply the contextual STEAM-based electric KIT are better than the control class that applies conventional magnetic-electric KIT.
This is by Hidayah et al. (2017: 130). Learning media incorporates indicators of critical thinking about the subject matter. This deepens students' understanding of the material and allows them to understand concepts and provide more in-depth explanations.
6. Self Regulation
According to Hayudiyani et al. (2017: 22), the capacity for regulation or self-regulation of students is the ability to track their cognitive activities, the components used in problem- solving activities, and mainly how they use analytical and evaluation skills. The questions for the eleventh experimental and control classes obtained an average score of 58.33% and 83.33%.
The experimental and control classes averaged 34.78% and 69.57% in the eight questions. To get students' critical thinking skills on analysis indicators in the experimental class of 70.83%
and the control class of 52.18%. This shows that students' critical thinking skills on indicators of self-regulation in classes that apply contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT are better than the control class that uses conventional magnetic electricity KITs. Rahmawati, Masykuri, and Surwanto (2019:177) say that self-regulation in students can develop if they understand the
information obtained.
Based on this description, in general, it can be concluded that the application of contextual STEAM-based electrical KIT has a positive influence on students' critical thinking skills, namely learning is carried out better in training students' necessary thinking skills so that student's essential abilities to think increase compared to education by applying magnetic electric KIT conventional.
Inferential analysis was carried out using hypothesis testing and an independent sample t-test to determine significant differences between the experimental and control classes. Before testing the hypothesis, prerequisite tests were carried out, namely the normality and homogeneity tests, using SPSS version 25.
The prerequisite test in the Independent sample T-Test aims to test the hypothesis. The decision-making criteria are adjusted to Sugiyono's (2018: 185-203) opinion, which states that H0 is accepted if the result of statistical hypothesis testing is less than 0.05, and H0 is rejected if it is more significant than 0.05. The Independent Sample T-Test with SPSS version 25 obtained results with a significance level of 0.004, indicating that H0 was rejected so that there was a significant difference in critical thinking ability between the experimental group and the control group after applying contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT to dynamic electricity material. Using contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT in learning can improve students' critical thinking skills in active electricity material.
CONCLUSION
The research findings showed that in the experimental class, the contextual STEAM- based electric KIT improved students' critical thinking skills better than the conventional magnetic electric KIT in the control class. Students in the experimental and control classes had significant differences in critical thinking skills after learning to use the contextual STEAM- based electricity KIT. As a result, the critical thinking skills of Muhammadiyah Kuok Middle School students in dynamic electricity material can be improved by applying a contextual STEAM-based electricity KIT.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I want to thank Dr. Fakhruddin Z, S.Si., MT, who has supported and guided me in all aspects of completing this research. To Prof. Dr. Nur Islami, S.Si., MT, who has shown me in completing this research. To all SMP Muhammadiyah Kuok who are willing to accept and guide me in conducting research at the school.
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