The Development of an Integrated Social Sciences Learning Model in Character Building of Junior High School Students in Banda Aceh

Abstract

Character education is a vital aspect of junior high school education. This research aims to investigate the integrated social sciences learning practices to shape the character of students at the junior high school level. The research was conducted to introduce, develop, test, and find social sciences learning models suitable for building students' character. Employing the Research and Development(R&D) methodology, the research procedures in this study included preliminary study, model development, and model validation. To obtain the data, the researchers conducted pre-test and post-test, interviews, observations, and documentation at the four selected junior high schools in Banda Aceh. The qualitative data were then analyzed using the following stages: (1) data reduction, aimed at simplifying the data that has been collected; (2) data presentation; and (3) conclusion or verification. In addition, the effectiveness of changes in student character was analyzed using descriptive statistics of the pre-test and post-test. The findings of the study have shown that the learning models that could be applied in the integrated social sciences learning process were direct learning, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, contextual learning strategies, and wisdom-based learning. The model developed in this study was quite effective because the obtained scores were greater than >66.66%, namely 68.42%. There were changes in student character after the implementation of the wisdom-based learning model in integrated social sciences lessons. The development of a wisdom learning model in the integrated social sciences subject was effective in building student character. It is hoped that this study can contribute to the teaching of integrated social sciences learning at the junior high school level.