The effect of learning cycle multiple representation model on biology students’ critical thinking perceived from academic ability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Learning Cycle Multiple Representation (LCMR) on the critical thinking skills of Biology students in terms of academic ability. The participants were 62 Biology Education students from two universities, namely Universitas Pendidikan Mandalika and Universitas Nahdlatul Wathan Mataram Indonesia. The study was conducted in March-August 2020. The instrument utilized to assess critical thinking skills was an essay test on Plant Physiology, which consisted of 11 valid and reliable questions. The data were analyzed using the ANCOVA test with a significance level of 5%. The results demonstrated that: a) there were differences in students’ critical thinking skills based on the learning model, students using the LCMR model performed better than students using the Learning Cycle (LC) model; b) there were differences in students’ critical thinking skills based on academic abilities, students with high academic abilities were more critical than students with low academic abilities; c) there were differences in students’ critical thinking skills based on the interaction between learning models and students’ academic abilities. Based on LSD notation, students’ critical thinking skills from the highest to the lowest are LCMR students with high academic ability, LCMR students with low academic ability, LC students with high academic ability, and LC students with low academic ability. The findings of this study indicate that the LCMR learning model can aid students in enhancing their critical thinking skills.