THE EFFECT OF THE PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) MODEL ON THE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OF FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS AT SDN 2 BOYEMARE

Abstract

The critical thinking skills of fourth grade students at SDN 2 Boyemare in Mathematics remain low. Students struggle to understand and solve contextual problems because instruction is still teacher-centered. This study aims to determine the effect of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model on the critical thinking skills of Grade IV students at SDN 2 Boyemare during the 2025/2026 academic year, specifically regarding the topics of equivalent fractions and converting fractions to percentages. This study employs a quantitative approach using a pre-experimental design—specifically, the One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The data source comprises the entire Grade IV cohort of 17 students, selected via total sampling. Data were collected using an essay test consisting of eight items based on Ennis's critical thinking indicators. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, the N-Gain test, normality tests (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk), the paired-sample t-test, and the analysis of observational data using the SPSS program. The research results show that the average pretest score of 39.15 increased to 69.67 in the posttest, representing an increase of 30.52 points. The N-Gain test yielded an average score of 0.50 (moderate category), with 94.12% of students falling into the moderate category and 5.88% into the high category; no students fell into the low category. The paired sample t-test resulted in a calculated t-value of -15.712 with a significance value of < 0.001—well below the 0.05 significance level—leading to the rejection of H₀ and the acceptance of H₁. This indicates that the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model has a significant effect on the critical thinking skills of fourth-grade students at SDN 2 Boyemare during the 2025/2026 academic year.