From Exploration to Reflection: STEAM Assisted by Performance Assessment to Strengthen High School Students’ Reflective Thinking in Biology Learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54065/pelita.6.2.2026.1615Keywords:
Performance Assessment, Reflective Thinking, Ecosystems And Their Interactions, Steam ApproachAbstract
The urgency of this research lies in the need to strengthen high school students’ reflective thinking skills in biology learning through STEAM assisted by performance assessment. Reflective thinking is an essential competency in biology learning. However, preliminary findings indicated that this ability remained low among high school students, as students tended to rely on rote learning without critically interpreting their learning experiences, making it difficult for them to achieve a deep conceptual understanding. Therefore, a STEAM learning approach assisted by performance assessment, integrating five disciplines, was implemented. This study aimed to analyze the effect and contribution of the STEAM approach assisted by performance assessment on the reflective thinking skills of Grade X students in biology learning, particularly on the topic of ecosystem components and their interactions. Three classes were selected through cluster random sampling: X 5 (Study I, n = 33), X 7 (Study II, n = 34), and X 9 (Study III, n = 33). The instruments consisted of a reflective thinking essay test and a Reflective Thinking Scale questionnaire. The results showed a significant effect of the STEAM approach assisted by performance assessment on reflective thinking skills, as indicated by the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (p = 0.000 < 0.05). The STEAM approach assisted by performance assessment also contributed to reflective thinking skills, as examined using Spearman’s rank correlation and subsequently squared to obtain the coefficient of determination (R²). The contribution was 58.2%, with a correlation coefficient of 0.763, while the remaining 41.8% was attributed to other factors. Thus, the STEAM approach assisted by performance assessment can serve as an effective learning alternative for strengthening students’ reflective thinking skills.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Shahroni, Nukhbatul Bidayati Haka, Raicha Oktafiani, Ismi Rakhmawati
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