Student-Created Case Studies and Conceptual Understanding in Pancasila Education: A Quasi-Experimental Study among Elementary School Students

Abstract

The urgency of this study lies in the need to enhance students’ conceptual understanding in Pancasila Education through active engagement in creating contextual case studies. Conceptual understanding is one of the key skills students need to develop in Pancasila Education. However, preliminary test results indicate that some students still struggle to grasp these concepts. This study aims to determine the difference in the average conceptual understanding of students between the experimental class, which used the Student Created Case Studies method, and the control class, which used the lecture method. This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental method and a Nonequivalent Control Group Design. The study population consisted of 86 students, with a sample of 26 students from Class V-B serving as the control group and 29 students from Class V-C serving as the experimental group, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through essay tests and observations, then analyzed using tests for normality, homogeneity, the independent samples t-test, the Mann-Whitney test, and the N-Gain at a 5% significance level. The results of the study showed that the class that implemented Student-Created Case Studies achieved a mean posttest score of 72.14 and an N-Gain of 0.51 (moderate category), while the class using the lecture method achieved a mean posttest score of 64.92 and an N-Gain of 0.39 (moderate category). The Mann-Whitney test yielded a p-value of 0.002 < 0.05, so H₁ was accepted and H₀ was rejected. Thus, there was a significant difference in the improvement of conceptual understanding, with the Student Created Case Studies method showing a greater improvement compared to the lecture method.