The Effect of Integrating Science Text Cards, KWL Charts, and Visual Cues on Middle School Students Critical Thinking Skills and Cognitive Abilities Hanifah Nurhayati, Parlindungan Sinaga, Rika Rafikah Agustin
Department of Science Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Abstract
Science learning at the junior high school level often faces challenges in developing students^ critical thinking skills and cognitive abilities, especially when learning abstract topics such as Earth structure. This study aimed to examine the effect of integrating science text cards, KWL charts, and visual cues on the critical thinking skills and cognitive abilities of eighth-grade students in learning Earth structure. A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used with 33 students selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a 20-item multiple-choice test, consisting of 9 items for critical thinking skills and 11 items for cognitive abilities. The validity and reliability of the instrument were analyzed using the Rasch model with Ministep software based on pretest data. Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality tests, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and effect size analysis in SPSS. The results showed a significant increase in the mean score from 48.79 to 62.12, with a large effect size of r = 0.60. These findings indicate that the integration of science text cards, KWL charts, and visual cues has the potential to be effective in improving students^ critical thinking skills and cognitive abilities.
