Students' Critical Thinking: A Study on Science Teaching Material Based on the Scientific Approach

Abstract

The teaching materials in this study were developed using a scientific approach in terms of the structure of their preparation and development. They were developed to direct students to active learning and improve their critical thinking. Critical thinking skills are highly needed to solve complex problems in various situations, including those that arise in the communication technology industry era. This study was designed as a research and development. The subjects of the study were 45 students of 7th grade, and the object was the students' critical thinking skills through the application of teaching materials based on a scientific approach. Teaching materials development was carried out through 1) needs analysis; 2) product design includes the formulation of learning objectives, writing teaching materials following the scientific approach, and deepening the content of the materials; 3) initial product assessment stage, and 4) application of teaching materials. The data obtained were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics using an independent sample t-test. The results show that the teaching materials developed were feasible to use with a score of 4.28 in the very good category. Student responses to teaching materials based on a scientific approach were in the high response category. Based on testing with the independent sample t-test, the P-value obtained was 0.0437 <0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of scientific approach-based teaching materials has an effect on improving students' critical thinking skills.