Improving Students' Critical Thinking Skills Against Environmental Problems: Practicum Mini Project "Understanding Public Perceptions of Environmental Problems"

Yusuf Yusuf

doi:10.29303/jppipa.v8i1.1224

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to improve students' critical thinking skills towards environmental problems through mini-project practicum activities on the concept of understanding public perceptions of environmental problems. This research is descriptive research using a qualitative approach. The subjects in this study were Semester II class E students who took Environmental Science courses in the Even Semesters of the 2019/2020 Academic Year. The instrument used to measure critical thinking skills using indicators developed by Ennis are 1) Elementary, 2) Clarification Basic Support, 3) Inference, 4) Advanced Clarification, 5) Strategies and Tactics. Results The average critical thinking ability of 20 students is in the medium category (average score of 69.54). Of the 20 students, 10% were in the very high category, 30% in the high category, 25% in the medium category, and 35% in the low category. Indicators of students' critical thinking in 5 aspects, each of which has an average value that is in the medium category

Highlights

Environmental problems are currently being discussed by various countries, both developed and developing countries such as Indonesia
The average critical thinking ability of 20 students is in the medium category
The results showed that the average critical thinking ability of students was in the medium category, where some of them were in the high category (30%) and very high (10%)

Summary

Introduction

Environmental problems are currently being discussed by various countries, both developed and developing countries such as Indonesia. Environmental problems that occur are the decreasing area of primary forests in the world and the problem of environmental pollution that triggers global warming and climate change (Katsoulakos, et al, 2016; Tuncay, et al, 2012). The current environmental development trend leads to negative things, namely severe ecosystem degradation, increasing climate change, and direct social impacts due to poverty and unemployment globally (Bell, 2016). Environmental management policies in a country are highly dependent on economic development and awareness of the importance of the environment (Katsoulakos, et al, 2016). Problems will occur if a large population is not accompanied by qualified skills and knowledge to work and resulting in a lot of unemployment and crime. The latest data shows that in 2019 the number of crimes reported in all Jurnal Penelitian Pendidikan IPA (JPPIPA)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion