Preliminary study of PBL-based e-module development based on research results to improve students’ critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcomes

Abstract

The main skill that must be possessed by students in the 21st century is critical thinking because it is related to the process of solving problems that occur in everyday life, work, and others. Learning in Human Anatomy and Physiology courses is expected so that students are able to master concepts, be able to solve problems and apply technology through a research-based approach, students have good critical thinking skills, high student cognitive learning outcomes, and students are able to construct concepts based on facts found in daily life. This research is a preliminary study in identifying problems that occur in undergraduate students of UM biology education so that solutions can be found in an effort to improve students’ critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcomes. This type of research is descriptive research. The data collection instruments consisted of questionnaires and test questions for critical thinking skills and students’ initial cognitive learning outcomes. The research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that learning was still carried out through presentations, discussions and there was no learning process that trained critical thinking, as well as the unavailability of electronic teaching materials; students’ critical thinking skills are still at a low level; student cognitive learning outcomes are still in the poor category with a mean of 51.67, and students have experienced difficulties in taking courses in Human Anatomy and Physiology, with reasons including abstract and complex material (64.5%), difficulty applying concepts to everyday life (22.6%), and lack of availability of teaching materials which are relevant and easy to apply in life (19.4%). Based on the preliminary study conducted, it can be concluded that teaching materials can be developed in the form of PBL-based e-modules based on research results to improve students’ critical thinking skills and cognitive learning outcomes.