PjBL-HOTS: Integration of learning in improving critical thinking and digital literacy of biology education students

Abstract

Education 4.0 is a part of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0. Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and digital literacy skills are suitable for education in this 4.0 era. HOTS emphasize critical thinking skills, analytical thinking skills, and creative thinking skills. This research aims to analyze the effect of the PjBL-HOTS learning model on students' critical thinking skills and digital literacy skills in learning osmoregulation concepts in the Animal Physiology course. Sixty-one fifth-semester students of Faculty of Teacher Training and Educational Sciences in Pattimura University, Ambon, were used as the research subjects. They were divided into class A (37 students) and class B (24 students). Class A was taught using the PjBL-HOTS learning model, and class B was taught using the PjBL learning model. The research instruments were in critical thinking-based essay test items and a scoring rubric to measure students' critical thinking skills. In addition, an observation sheet was used to observe students' digital literacy. The research data were analyzed using ANCOVA and ANOVA. The former was used to analyze the students' critical thinking skills, and the latter was used to measure students' digital literacy. The results showed that the learning model significantly affected students' critical thinking skills with 0.017<α=0.05. Meanwhile, the learning model did not significantly affect students' digital literacy, which was indicated with 0.249>α=0.05. This result shows that the PjBL-HOTS learning model with its complex syntax can empower students' critical thinking skills. Moreover, both the PjBL-HOTS and PjBL learning models can train students' ability to search information from digital sources properly.