Enhancing prospective biology teachers’ critical analysis skills: an evaluation of plant anatomy and development textbook effects.

Fitriani, Herdiyana; Asy'ari, Muhammad; Zubaidah, Siti; Mahanal, Susriyati; Samsuri, Taufik

Critical analysis (CA) skills are crucial in higher education and should be incorporated into the curriculum at that level. The unique characteristics of abstract biology materials and the involvement of prospective Biology teachers (PBTs) in scientific investigation activities make them highly relevant for teaching CA skills. Inquiry activities require teaching materials or textbooks that explicitly engage science teacher trainees in science process skills (SPS) activities. For effective inquiry-based learning (IBL), appropriate textbooks are essential. Therefore, in this study, a Plant Anatomy and Development textbook based on SPS was utilized as a tool to develop CA skills. The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of SPS-based PADT on PBTs' CA skills in the Plant Anatomy and Development (PAD) course. To achieve the research objectives, a quasi-experimental research design with a pretest-posttest control group was implemented. The research sample consisted of fifty-five prospective teachers who were selected through purposive sampling. They were divided into two groups: the experimental group (n=28) and the control group (n=27). To analyze the students' critical analysis skills, twelve valid and reliable essay items were utilized. The research findings indicated that the experimental group exhibited a significantly greater cognitive gain (>0.70) compared to the control group (0.30 < n-gain < 0.70) (p < 0.05).

BIOLOGY teachers; PLANT anatomy; INQUIRY-based learning; SCIENCE teachers; PLANT development

Journal of Turkish Science Education (TUSED), 2024, Vol 21, Issue 3, p533

1304-6020

Academic Journal

10.36681/tused.2024.028