The Influence of Environment-based Biology Learning Integrated with Local Wisdom and Character Education on Student’s Higher Order Thinking Skills and Environmental Care Attitude

Abstract

Teachers are required to improve the learning quality that is indicated by an increase of learning outcomes and student’s good behavior. The present study examined whether environment-based biology learning materials integrated with local wisdom and character education had an effect on students' higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and environmental care attitudes. This study used quantitative research approach with a quasi-experimental research and a post-test only control design. There were 200 tenth-grade students and 10 biology teachers participating in this study. The data were analyzed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and independent sample t-test. The results showed that there was a significant effect of students' higher order thinking skills and students' environmental care attitudes between students who were taught using the developed teaching materials and those who were taught using textbooks (F (2, 197) = 1.077, p< 0.001; Wilks Lambda = 0.478, np2 = 0.522). The use of environment, local wisdom, and character education in developing teaching materials provided new nuances in the learning process, where students did not only have knowledge but also attitudes and skills. In addition, students could understand the ideas or messages of the subject matter very well. Although the results portrayed in this study depicted that the class taught using the developed teaching materials was better than the class taught using textbooks, it could not be denied that the teacher's pedagogical mastery also determined the success of the teaching and learning process.