The Effect of Controversial Issues Model on Students' Critical Thinking Skills in Social Studies Education

Abstract

The student’s critical thinking skills in social studies education in Public Junior High School 14 Bandung is still low. This can be seen from the observation of the researchers, which shows that the students’ critical thinking skills in the superior classes are far more prominent compared to the regular classes. The students'critical thinking skills in the superior classes are not only fixated on the problems in their handbooks, but it also has started to recognize about contextual, and even contemporary issues. Furthermore, the learning method used in the superior classes are actually the same as in the regular classes; the only difference is that students in the regular classes are less able to explore broader information/phenomena. They only absorb information obtained from their handbook. This research tries to analyze the controversial issues model, and this research used problems from the controversial and critical issues. The research method is processed with a quasi-experimental research, with non-probality sampling technique. The controversial issues model is compared to the think pair and shared model. The analysis results from the measurements in the experimental and control class before the treatment, showed that there is no difference between the two. However, there is a difference in the students’ critical thinking skills between before and after the treatment. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is an effectiveness from the controversial issues learning model, which affects students' critical thinking skills in social studies education.