THE EFFECTS OF VISUAL MAPPING AND SCIENCE- RELATED ATTITUDES ON STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS AT MAN 1 TANJUNG PURA

The aims of this study were to find out: (1) the effects of learning techniques on students’ critical thinking skills, (2) the effects of science-related attitudes on students’ critical thinking skills, (3) the interactions between learning techniques and science-related attitudes on students’ critical thinking skills, (4) the effects of learning techniques on students’ problem solving skills, (5) the effects of science-related attitudes on students’ problem solving skills, and (6) the interactions between learning techniques and science-related attitudes on students’ problem solving skills. This study was conducted at MAN 1 Tanjung Pura, with the samples of 141 students of XI-Science Program. This study was a quasi-experimental technique by using a pretest-posttest experimental group with 4x2 factorial design. The technique of data analysis was processed by the Two-Way ANOVA and followed by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test with the aid of SPSS 22.00 on the significance level of 0.05. The results showed that: (1) there were the significant effects of learning techniques on students’ critical thinking skills (CTS) (F=87.082; P=0.000), where the scores of students’ CTS taught by argument mapping (86.83±2.478) were significantly higher than taught by direct instruction (78.03±2.658), (2) there were the significant effects of science-related attitudes (SRA) on students’ critical thinking skills (CTS) (F=2.493; P=0.040), where the scores of high SRA on students’ CTS taught by learning techniques (85.00±4.401) were significantly higher than the scores of low SRA on students’ CTS taught by learning techniques (74.93±3.254), (3) there were the interactions between learning techniques and SRA on students’ CTS (F=2.037; P=0.000), where the scores of students’ CTS taught by mind mapping with high SRA were significantly different than taught by direct instruction with high SRA (P=0.031<0.05) and low SRA (P=0.000<0.05), (4) there were the significant effects of learning techniques on students’ problem solving skills (PSS) (F=94.214; P=0.000), where the scores of students’ PSS taught by concept mapping (87.74±2.586) were significantly higher than taught by direct instruction (78.84±2.689), (5) there were the significant effects of SRA on students’ PSS (F=3.397; P=0.031), where the scores of high SRA on students’ PSS taught by learning techniques (85.68±4.312) were significantly higher than the scores of low SRA on students’ PSS taught by learning techniques (77.26±3.614), and (6) there were the interactions between learning techniques and science-related attitudes on students’ problem solving skills (F=2.195; P=0.000), where the scores of students’ PSS taught by argument mapping with high SRA were significantly different than taught by direct instruction with high SRA (P=0.042<0.05) and low SRA (P=0.000<0.05).