The Effect of Digital Media-Assisted Problem Based Learning on Junior High School Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Mathematics Learning

Abstract

Mathematical critical thinking skills are essential competencies in twenty-first century education; however, many junior high school students still demonstrate low abilities in analyzing, evaluating, and solving mathematical problems. This study aimed to analyze the effect of Digital Media-Assisted Problem Based Learning (PBL) on students’ mathematical critical thinking skills. The research employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group design. The participants consisted of junior high school students divided into an experimental class and a control class. Data were collected through mathematical critical thinking tests, observations, and documentation. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality and homogeneity tests, independent sample t-tests, and N-Gain analysis. The findings revealed that the experimental class taught using Digital Media-Assisted PBL achieved a higher posttest mean score (84.37) compared to the control class (72.15). Furthermore, the experimental class obtained an N-Gain score of 0.64, while the control class achieved 0.38. These results indicate that the integration of digital media within the PBL model effectively improved students’ mathematical critical thinking skills by promoting interactive, contextual, and student-centered learning experiences. Therefore, Digital Media-Assisted PBL can be considered an effective instructional strategy for enhancing students’ higher-order thinking skills in mathematics learning.