IMPLEMENTATION OF INNOVATIVE CHEMISTRY LEARNING MATERIAL WITH GUIDED TASKS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ COMPETENCE

This research aimed to provide an
innovative chemistry learning material with
guided tasks to improve students’ competence
in Chemistry. It involved 180 students
enrolled in the Analytical Chemistry course at
State University of Medan in academic year
of 2016/2017. The samples were purposively
selected and divided into two groups. The
research consisted of several steps including
enrichment, innovation and standardization
of learning material, followed by implementation
of the developed learning material in
class. A set of good quality learning material
equipped with the guided task for Gravimetry
topic has been provided. It contained
relevant contextual examples, laboratory
works, students’ activities, multimedia, and
hyperlink to trustworthy websites. Implementation
of innovative learning material has
been conducted by using a set of developed
learning material in the experimental class
while the existing textbook was used in the
control class. The research findings highlighted
several points: (1) well-implemented
innovative learning material was effective
to improve the students’ competence; (2)
learning outcome in experimental class
was found higher than that in control class;
(3) the guided task in the learning package
facilitated the students to learn the selected
chemistry topic independently which in turn
shifted student learning style from lectureroriented
to student-oriented; (4) the guided
task not only made the students be familiar
with searching for scientific documents to
complete the given tasks but also improved
the students’ ability to write and organize
their assignments; (5) students’ academic
attitudes, observed during the learning activities,
were categorized as very good.