The Effect of the Role-Playing Method on Students’ Critical Thinking in Natural and Social Sciences Learning

Abstract

Background: Critical thinking is an important higher-order cognitive skill that should be developed from elementary school, yet classroom learning often remains teacher-centered and provides limited opportunities for students to analyze problems, evaluate alternatives, and make reasoned decisions. Objective: This study examined the effect of the role playing method on fourth-grade students’ critical thinking in the IPAS topic “How We Get All Our Needs” and described the implementation of the learning process. Method: A quantitative quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group was used. The sample consisted of 43 fourth-grade students of SDN 2 Barabai Darat, including 21 students in the experimental group and 22 students in the control group. Data were collected through essay-based critical thinking tests, teacher and student activity observation sheets, and student response questionnaires. The data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using normality testing, Levene’s homogeneity test, and one-way analysis of variance. Results and Discussion: The experimental group obtained a higher posttest mean score of 85.2976 than the control group, which obtained 78.1818. The homogeneity test showed a significance value of 0.633, and hypothesis testing produced F = 15.700 with p = 0.000. These results indicate a significant positive effect of role playing on students’ critical thinking. The learning process was implemented very well, student activity reached the maximum score in each meeting, and student responses were highly positive. Conclusion: Role playing is an effective alternative for contextual IPAS learning because it integrates concrete experience, social interaction, decision making, and reflection.