Development of a guided inquiry-based digital student book to improve conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills
Conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills among elementary school students need to be supported by interactive learning materials that actively engage students in the learning process. This study aimed to develop a guided inquiry-based digital student book and examine its validity, practicality, and effectiveness in improving students’ conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills. This study employed a Research and Development (R&D) method using the ADDIE model, which consisted of five stages: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The research participants were 18 fifth-grade students at SD Negeri 95/IV in Jambi City. Data were collected through observations, interviews, expert validation sheets, teacher and student response questionnaires, and pretest–posttest assessments. The results showed that the developed digital student book was categorized as highly valid and highly practical. For conceptual understanding, the N-Gain was 0.5805 (moderate category), and the effect size was 4.401 (large effect). For critical thinking skills, the N-Gain was 0.5378 (moderate category), and the effect size was 0.893 (large effect). The statistical tests also revealed significant differences between pretest and posttest scores for both variables. These findings indicate that the guided inquiry-based digital student book is suitable for use and has the potential to support improvements in elementary school students’ conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills.
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