Improving Students' Thinking Skills in the Use of Chitosan as a Preservative for Processed Meat Using Research-Based Learning Materials with STEM Approach

Abstract

Creative thinking skills are very important in the 2lst era. The 2lst-century skills require a person to have 4C skills (Critical Thinking, Communication, Creative Thinking, and Collaboration) where creative thinking skills are in the 4C. We can integrate creative thinking skills into the teaching and learning process by implementing a specific model, namely research-based learning (RBL). This will be done by elaborating STEM problems, namely Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In this study, we will focus on food preservation. By combining the model and the approach, in this study we will develop research-based learning materials with a STEM approach to improve the student's creative thinking skills in using chitosan as a breakthrough for the preservative of processed meat. This study used the Research and Development (R&D) method of the 4D model consisting. The learning material products are lesson plans, students worksheets, and assessment instruments. Data collection instruments for testing validity, practicality, and effectiveness are questionnaires, observation sheets, and feasibility validation sheets (content, format, and language). The results show that the learning materials satisfy content validity, format validity, and language validity. The result of practicality and effectivity tests shows a significant contribution with the results of the statistical inferential paired sample t-test, a 2-tailed significance value of 0.00 is obtained, which is smaller than ≤ 0.05.