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Improving Elementary Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through the Use of STEM-Based Teaching Materials in Integrated Science and Social Studies Instruction
Abstract
This study investigates the effectiveness of STEM-based teaching materials and student worksheets (LKPD) in enhancing the critical thinking skills of fourth-grade students in Integrated Science and Social Studies (IPAS). Employing a pre-experimental research design, the study was conducted at MI Baiturrahim with a sample of 28 students. Data were collected through teacher interviews and critical thinking tests administered as pretests and posttests. Due to the non-normal distribution of the data (significance value = 0.012, α = 0.05), the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied, yielding a significance value of 0.001 (< 0.05), indicating a statistically significant improvement in students' critical thinking skills after the intervention. The N-gain score of 0.6444 categorizes the improvement as moderate. These findings suggest that integrating STEM-based instructional materials into IPAS lessons can effectively foster students’ critical thinking abilities at the elementary level.
Keywords
References
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/jppd.v12i1.82654
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