THE EFFECT OF INQUIRY BASED LEARNING ON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES IN LIVING THINGS CLASSIFICATION

Abstract

Critical thinking skills are fundamental in elementary science learning as they support students’ ability to reason scientifically and solve problems. However, science instruction in many elementary schools still relies on conventional teaching methods that limit students’ active engagement and inquiry, resulting in low learning outcomes. This study aims to examine the effect of inquiry-based learning on elementary students’ critical thinking skills and science learning outcomes on the topic of living things classification. This study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental design using a non-equivalent control group design. The participants consisted of 50 fourth-grade students from an elementary school in Rokan Hilir Regency, Indonesia, divided into an experimental group taught using inquiry-based learning and a control group taught using conventional methods. Data were collected using a critical thinking skills questionnaire and a science achievement test administered as pretest and posttest. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, Shapiro–Wilk normality tests, Levene’s homogeneity test, independent samples t-test, and normalized gain (N-Gain) analysis. The results showed that the experimental group achieved a higher posttest mean score (87.76) than the control group (80.28), with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.002). The experimental group also obtained a high N-Gain score (0.75), while the control group achieved a moderate N-Gain score (0.66). These findings indicate that inquiry-based learning significantly enhances students’ critical thinking skills and science learning outcomes in elementary education.