Implementation of SSI-Based PBL Model to Develop Students' Critical Thinking Skills in Science Learning

Abstrak

One of the most important abilities that must be cultivated in 21^st-century education is critical thinking. In reality, though a lot of classroom activities continue to use conventional methods and fail to actively include students. The purpose of this study is to investigate how junior high school students’ critical thinking abilities in the area of ecology and biodiversity are affected by the integration of the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model with SSI. The study used a non-eqauivalent control group design and quasi-experimental methodology. Two classrooms of the eighth-grader  at SMP Negeri 35 Padang served as the research subject : one used the PBL-SSI model as an experimental class, while other used the conventional approach as a control class. Pre-test and post-test were used to gather data, and the t-test was used for analysis. The finding demonstrated that prior to the interventional, the critical thinking abilities significantly improved following the intervention skills (t_count = 7.234 > t_table = 2.005). Six measures of critical thinking, including the capacity for information analysis, conclusion-making, and evaluation, showed this progress. These results show that the SSI-PBL paradigm works well for developing students’ critical thinking skill through meaningful, contextual, and practically applicable learning activities. With the use of real life example, this paradigm promotes active student participation in debates, problem solving, and decision making. The process of learning becomes more interesting and meaningful, and it is executed well all along the way.