The Profile of Students’ Communication Skills on Science Learning in Elementary Schools

Abstract

Communication skills are crucial in 21st century education since they encourage other skills, such as speaking skills, critical thinking, and creative thinking. Communication skills are a means to create, maintain, and expand knowledge in science learning. This study explores the profile of students’ communication skills in science learning in elementary schools. A qualitative approach was employed. The subjects were 100 public elementary school students in Central Java, Indonesia. Data collection techniques were observation and interviews with students attending science learning classes. The data were analyzed using interaction analysis consisting of data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The result revealed that students’ communication skills in science learning were poor, with an average score of 1.96 or 49.02%. Answering the question was the indicator frequently found. It had an average score of 2.3 or 57.60%. Meanwhile, the indicator hardly found was asking the question since the average score was 1.64 or 40.93%. Considering the results, the teachers need to apply various materials or an innovative learning model to improve students’ communication skills in science learning.