The Effect of The RADEC Model on Students' Conceptual Understanding and Critical Thinking Skills in Animalia Classification
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This study was motivated by the prevalence of teacher-centered instruction in biology classrooms, which limits students' conceptual understanding and hinders the development of critical thinking skills. These challenges are particularly evident in animal classification, which involves complex taxonomic concepts and requires systematic reasoning. Therefore, a more structured and student-centered instructional approach is needed. This study aimed to examine the effects of the Read, Answer, Discuss, Explain, and Create (RADEC) learning model on students' conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills in animal classification. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 70 tenth-grade students from SMA Negeri 18 Jakarta who were assigned to experimental and control groups. Data were collected using essay-based written assessments designed to measure conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills. Preliminary statistical analyses included the Shapiro–Wilk test for normality, Levene's test for homogeneity of variance, and Box's M test for equality of covariance matrices. The results indicated that the relevant statistical assumptions were satisfied. Subsequently, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, followed by univariate analyses to examine differences between the groups. The findings revealed statistically significant differences in learning outcomes between the experimental and control groups. Overall, the implementation of the RADEC learning model had a significant positive effect on students' conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills in animal classification.
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