Developing Fifth Grade Students' Science Communication Ability by Using Phenomenon-based Learning with Visual Thinking on the Topic of Substances in Daily Life

Abstract

         Communication skills are extremely important, especially science subjects. Therefore, students should be encouraged to develop their science communication abilities. This action research aimed to examine guidelines and ways of learning management using the phenomenon-based learning with visual thinking and to investigate the impact of phenomenon-based learning with visual thinking on developing students’ science communication abilities. The participants were twelve fifth grade students. The research instrument consisted of lesson plans, reflective learning journals, the students’ activities worksheets and writing and speaking science communication ability assessment. The qualitative data were then analyzed by using content analysis technique while the reliability was verified by using triangulation. The research results were that the steps of learning management should be in such a way that: 1) choose the phenomenon close to them that are connected to daily life, taking into consideration of context and age of students, using a variety of media to present the phenomenon for students ; 2) an atmosphere of learning  should  be created independently for students to express their opinions freely through independently, brainstorm toward questioning about phenomenon ;  3) working conditions should be established to encourage students to know their roles and responsibilities, and to learn through various investigation activities, choose to use reliable sources and evidence to explain the phenomenon ; and 4) examining comprehension through visual thinking helps students saw the concrete images and had a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, and applied them to explain together with the use of a second language as a presentation option.  For the results of developing students' science communication abilities, it was found that students' writing and speaking science communication abilities tend to increase by learning through Phenomenon-based learning with Visual thinking.