This study was motivated by the low level of science conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills among sixth-grade students at SDN 2 Damparan. Preliminary observations revealed that the classical mastery of science concepts reached only 33%, while students' critical thinking skills were merely 25%, primarily due to teacher-centered instructional practices. This study aimed to improve both aspects through the implementation of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model. The study employed Classroom Action Research (CAR) based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model, consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection conducted over two cycles. The participants were 12 sixth-grade students enrolled in the 2025/2026 academic year. Data were collected through tests, observations, and documentation, and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative descriptive techniques. The findings demonstrated that the implementation of PBL improved students' classical mastery of science concepts from 33% in the pre-cycle to 75% in Cycle I and 100% in Cycle II. Similarly, students' critical thinking skills increased from 25% in the pre-cycle to 58.33% in Cycle I and 91.67% in Cycle II. These findings indicate that the PBL model is effective in enhancing students' science conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills.
Local wisdom and science literacy are increasingly recognized as complementary foundations for culturally responsive and contextually relevant education. However, the extent to which these two domains have been integrated within educational research remains unclear. This study aims to map the evolution, thematic structure, and intellectual foundations of research on local wisdom and science literacy. A bibliometric approach was employed to analyze 1,016 journal articles indexed in the Scopus database and published between 2016 and 2025. Bibliographic data were processed using the Bibliometrix package in R through the Biblioshiny interface to examine annual scientific production, source distribution, country productivity, citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence, cocitation networks, thematic mapping, trend topics, and conceptual structures.The results indicate a substantial increase in publication output over the observed period, with research activity accelerating particularly after 2021. The thematic structure of the field reveals a polarized knowledge architecture in which culturally grounded constructs such as local wisdom, sustainability, and character education coexist with science-oriented constructs including science literacy and science education, yet with limited conceptual integration between them. The geographical distribution of publications demonstrates a strong concentration of empirical production in developing countries, particularly Indonesia, while advanced research systems maintain greater citation influence within the global knowledge network. International collaboration patterns remain largely hub-dependent, reflecting uneven participation across regions. Overall, the findings suggest that research on local wisdom and science literacy has expanded rapidly in volume but remains conceptually fragmented and epistemically asymmetrical. The field continues to develop through parallel thematic trajectories rather than a fully integrated interdisciplinary framework.
Dwi Septiaseh, L. Prasojo, Bambang Saptono et al.· Multidisciplinary Reviews· 0 citations
