Science Process Skills (SPSs) are fundamental skills to mastering science. To nurture students' SPS, inquiry based learning and student-center activities may work effectively. This study aims at analyzing: How Inquiry-based Learning and Student Team Achievement Division (INSTAD) affects science process skills compared with inquiry-based learning, Student Teams Achievement Divisions (STAD), and conventional learning method. The participants were 136 grade 7 students from 27 public middle schools in Surakarta, Indonesia. They were divided into 68 students with higher academic (HA) achievement and 68 students with lower academic (LA) achievement. A nonequivalent control group design with pretest and posttest were applied to get data on SPSs using a sort of essay test. The result indicates that: (1) While the outcomes of INSTAD and inquiry-based learning are comparable, they are significantly different compared with the outcomes of STAD and conventional learning. (2) Students in HA group have higher SPS than students in LA groups. (3) INSTAD, on an equal level with inquiry-based learning, significantly increases the students’ SPSs. Compared with other three methods, INSTAD was confirmed the most effective in closing the science process skills gaps between students in HA group and LA group. Keywords: inquiry-based learning, INSTAD, STAD, science process skills.

This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of a Generative Learning-based biology module to improve the analytical thinking skills of the students with high and low reading motivation. The method used was a 2x2 factorial design. The participants were 250 students of the Class XI SMA Kota Kotabumi. The researcher used an intact group technique to determine the sample. The sample was divided into two groups, namely the control group using conventional modules and the experimental group using Generative Learning-based biology modules, and each sample groups were divided into two groups of high reading motivation (HRM) and low reading motivation (LRM). The instrument used to obtain the data of analysis capability was an essay test, the indicators based on Facione's analytical thinking skills. The instrument of reading motivation used the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ). The results of the data analysis showed the effectiveness of the Generative Learning-based biology module implementation on the students' analytical thinking skills. There was not only an influence of reading motivation through students' analytical thinking skills but also interaction between the module and students' reading motivation towards their analytical thinking skills.

This study aims to determine the profile of students' literacy skills in one of the private high schools in Karanganyar. This study uses a survey method. The study population was all high school students of class X, XI, and XII MIA. The sampling technique uses stratified proportional random sampling with a total sample of 45 students. Science literacy skills are measured using the 2015 Program for International Student (PISA) test with indicators developed by Gormally. The results showed that in general, the average value of students' scientific literacy skills was 52.22% in the deficient category. The results of each indicator of scientific literacy skills are as follows: (1) scientific opinion identification skills of 55.56% in the low category, (2) effective literature search of 48.89% in the very low category, (3) understanding the research design elements amounted to 37.78% in the very low category, (4) charted 57.78% in the low category, (5) solved the problem with quantitative skills of 53.33% in the very low category, (6) interpreted the statistics the base is 60.00% in the medium category, (7) inference, prediction and conclusion drawing 62.23% in the medium category.

Environmental literacy refers to the knowledge of the mechanism of how the nature works and the roles of human to preserve the nature sustainably. The dynamic relation between human and environment can be seen from the life interaction along with all the components.

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Creative thinking skills are important for long-term success. Empowering creative thinking skills which can be trained through problem-solving activities in learning, thereby promoting high cognitive engagement. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of the research and development product of Problem-Based Learning module of environmental changes in empowering students’ creative thinking skills. The research method used was the Quasi-experiment with nonequivalent control group design. The sample of the research was the tenth-graders of a Senior High School in Karanganyar district, Central Java. The sampling was cluster sampling by involving two classes, namely the Grade X-MIA 1 with 28 students and the X-MIA 4 with 28 students. The qualitative and quantitative-descriptive approaches were used to analyze the data. The result shows the mean of creative thinking skills score of experiment group is higher than the control group. This developed module could empower students’ creative thinking skills by problem-solving activities as needed for Indonesian educational goal . The study concludes that development module was constructed based on Problem-based Learning activities in the module could stimulate students solved and identified the problems with their ideas and developed their creative thinking.

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This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of the INSTAD strategy in comparison to other teaching strategies such as Inquiry, student team’s achievement division (STAD), and lecture method, to reduce the gap of higher order thinking skills between Upper Academic (UA) and Lower Academic (LA) groups of students.The research partipants were 136 7th grade students in total, which consisted of two groups of 36 UA and 36 LA students. The students were selected through a stratified random sampling from 27 Public Junior High Schools in Surakarta, Indonesia. The treatment classes were determined through an intact group. The research design employed pre-test-post-test non-equivalent control group of quasi experiment. The higher order thinking skills were measured by essay test sheet as an instrument. Data were analysed by utilizing ANCOVA with the pre-test score as the covariate. The findings revealed that INSTAD have optimally improved higher order thinking skills in comparison with the Inquiry, STAD, and lecture method. INSTAD's were proven able to reduce the gap of higher order thinking skills between UA and LA students rather than Inquiry, STAD, and lecture method as teaching strategies. Keywords: higher order thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, student team’s achievement division, INSTAD strategy.