PENERAPAN PEMBELAJARAN KONTEKSTUAL UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS SISWA KELAS XI PADA PELAJARAN KIMIA DI UPH COLLEGE [THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING TO INCREASE CRITICAL THINKING OF GRADE 11 STUDENTS STUDYING CHEMISTRY AT UPH COLLEGE]

Chemistry in secondary education aims to equip students with higher order thinking skills. In a grade 11 chemistry class at UPH College, students were less active in asking and answering questions. The result of their cognitive learning in class was actually quite good, but they did not connect the concepts and context of chemistry to real-world situations. Students memorized almost all of the concepts that they needed to complete the exercises and take tests. Students were not using thinking skills because the learning process tended to use a  conventional teacher-centered approach. The aim of this research is to implement the Contextual Teaching and Learning method as a solution to increase critical thinking of grade 11 students in chemistry. This study uses Class Action Research (CAR) with 24 grade 11 students at UPH College as research subjects. Data were collected through observation, interviews, reflection, and student worksheet which is then analyzed descriptively qualitative. The results showed that there is increased critical thinking through Contextual Teaching and Learning. It was concluded that (1) the Contextual Teaching and Learning process should include constructivist, inquiry, questioning, learning communities, modeling, reflection, and authentic assessment in each cycle run, (2) the Contextual Teaching and Learning method can increase critical thinking of grade 11 students in chemistry.BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRAK: Pembelajaran Kimia pada pendidikan menengah atas bertujuan untuk memperlengkapi siswa dengan kemampuan berpikir yang lebih tinggi. Saat pembelajaran Kimia di UPH College berlangsung, sebagian besar siswa kelas XI masih kurang aktif dalam proses tanya jawab. Hasil rata-rata belajar kognitif siswa dalam kelas ini tergolong baik, namun siswa kurang mengaitkan konsep kimia dengan konteks kehidupan sehari-hari. Hampir semua konsep dihafal dan digunakan untuk mengerjakan soal latihan dan soal tes. Siswa belum terbiasa melatih kemampuan berpikir mereka karena pembelajaran cenderung menggunakan pendekatan konvensional yang berpusat pada guru. Penelitian ini bertujuan menerapkan pembelajaran kontekstual untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa kelas XI pada pelajaran Kimia. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) dengan subjek penelitian berjumlah 24 siswa kelas XI di UPH College. Data dikumpulkan melalui observasi, wawancara, jurnal refleksi, dan lembar kerja siswa yang kemudian dianalisis secara deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat peningkatan kemampuan berpikir kritis melalui pembelajaran kontekstual. Disimpulkan bahwa: (1) proses pembelajaran kontekstual yang meliputi konstruktivisme, inkuiri, bertanya, komunitas belajar, pemodelan, refleksi, dan penilaian otentik terlaksana dalam setiap siklus yang dijalankan, (2) pembelajaran kontekstual dapat meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa kelas XI pada pelajaran Kimia.