Comparing the 5E Learning Cycle and STAD Models on Students’ Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Collaboration in Grade V IPAS Instruction

Abstract

Preliminary observations at MI Muhammadiyah Nunu showed that students' critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration remained underdeveloped. The 5E Learning Cycle model had never been implemented at the school. This study examined differences in Class V students' critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration between those who participated in the 5E Learning Cycle and those who participated in STAD during IPAS instruction. The three skills were analyzed separately and then jointly. The research adopted a quasi-experimental approach using a Nonequivalent Control Group Design. The sample consisted of 31 students, with 16 assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group. Data came from a critical thinking test and separate creativity and collaboration questionnaires. Simple linear regression tested each skill individually, and MANOVA tested all three together. A significant simultaneous difference emerged between the groups across all three skills (Pillai's Trace = 0.469, p = 0.001). Collaboration was the only skill in which the experimental group's posttest mean exceeded the control group's (p = 0.027, d = 0.84), along with a larger gain, although this difference did not remain significant after Bonferroni adjustment (α = 0.017). Critical thinking and creativity also differed significantly between the groups (p = 0.002 and p = 0.012, respectively), but in favor of the STAD group, whose pretest means were already significantly higher. The 5E Learning Cycle showed a tentative advantage in collaboration, whereas no advantage over STAD was established for critical thinking and creativity. Future studies could apply ANCOVA or MANCOVA with pretest scores as covariates to isolate the model's effect more precisely.