Improving high school students’ critical thinking ability in linear programming through problem based learning assisted by GeoGebra

Abstract

Critical thinking is one of the important abilities in learning mathematics, but the fact shows most high school students in Aceh have not developed the thinking skill yet. One of the causes is the mathematics learning that is carried out does not pay attention to critical thinking skills. This study aims to determine the increase in students’ critical thinking skills in linear programming learning through the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model assisted by GeoGebra Software in SMA Negeri 2 Teupah Barat. This research is a semi-experimental study with one group pre-test post-test design. The population in this study were all 24 students of class XI at SMA Negeri 2 Teupah Barat. A sample of 10 students was selected using the purposive sampling technique. The instrument used was the pre-test and post-test questions on critical thinking skills. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25 software including data description, normality test, paired sample t-test, and N-Gain score. The results showed that the use of the PBL model assisted by GeoGebra software can improve students’critical thinking skills on linear programming material at SMA Negeri 2 Teupah Barat with an average increase in students’ critical thinking skills of 50.05%, a minimum increase of 36.53% and a maximum increase of 63.57%.