Best Practices in STEM Education to Enhance Analytical Thinking Skills of Grade 6 Students

Abstract

This research aims to: 1) Identify best practices in learning management based on STEM education for the topic "Rocks" that enhance the analytical thinking skills of Grade 6 students; 2) Examine the analytical thinking skills of Grade 6 students after participating      in STEM-based learning on the topic of "Rocks."; 3) Compare the analytical thinking skills of Grade 6 students before and after engaging in STEM-based learning on "Rocks."              The research partcipant for this study consists of 30 Grade 6 students selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments include a STEM education lesson plan, STEM-based activity worksheets designed to enhance analytical thinking skills, and an analytical thinking skills assessment. Data analysis combines qualitative and quantitative methods, with statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, and percentage.  The research findings indicate that the problem-based learning approach in STEM education stimulates students' analytical thinking and problem-solving skills by engaging them with real-world situations. The lessons incorporated problem scenarios related to students' daily lives, such as environmental issues in their communities. The learning process also encouraged students to ask questions, conduct research, and experiment independently using scientific and engineering methodologies. After participating in STEM-based learning, students demonstrated improvement in all three aspects of analytical thinking skills, with the overall post-test mean score increasing by 14.93 points compared to the pre-test. When examining each aspect of analytical thinking: content analysis, students were able to identify key information, summarize knowledge concisely, and articulate their understanding clearly and accurately; relationship analysis, students improved their ability to recognize connections between essential components; an principle analysis, students effectively synthesized and formulated general principles with clarity, accuracy, and completeness. During the STEM-based learning activities, students showed continuous improvement in their analytical thinking skills, with the highest development observed in Activity 1.3, which recorded an average score of 15.40. Furthermore, post-test scores in analytical thinking were significantly higher than pre-test scores at the 0.1 level, indicating a substantial impact of STEM-based learning on students’ cognitive development.