The Covid-19 pandemic is now beginning to spread to the world of education. The Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) is currently based on official information, ready with all scenarios, including encouraging online learning for students. This article is a kind of position paper—it clearances one side of a debatable opinion about a hot issue. The aim of a position paper is to persuade the reader that our opinion is valid and defensible. In regards to our position as researchers, then, the point of view is separated into four parts: The philosophy of “Merdeka Belajar”, physical distancing, social distancing and self-quarantine, digital learning in Indonesia to face Covid-19, ‘Merdeka Belajar’, digital learning, Covid-19, and authors’ view.

The research purposes are 1) Analyse the results of bibliometric mapping visualization on research trends ethnoscience-based learning and its contribution to physics learning, 2) Analyse author collaboration on research trends ethnoscience-based learning, and 3) Recommendations for future ethnoscience research in physics learning. In this research, the descriptive method is applied with a bibliometric approach. Data was obtained through the Scopus and Google Scholar databases published in the period 2011-2020. The results showed that ethnoscience-based learning made a major contribution to science learning at the elementary to junior high school level and physics at the high school to university level. Ethnoscience can be integrated with learning innovations in schools and can also train/improve students’ thinking skills. Ethnoscience also dominates the social sciences. The recommended research trends in the Scopus and Google Scholar databases are physics learning about ethno-stem, development of ethnoscience-based physics teaching materials, ethnoscience-based physics learning to train students’ scientific literacy and problem-solving skills.

Problem solving skills (PSS) are the skills needed to face the challenges of the industrial revolution 4.0, which need to be developed through the learning process, and are still a challenge for teachers today. This study aims to determine the effect of the implementation of problem-based learning (PBL) in practicing students’ problem solving abilities on material momentum and impulses. The research utilised a pre-experimental design with one-group pretest-posttest paradigm. The sample in this study consisted of 3 groups: one experimental group and two replication groups. The results showed that the implementation of PBL affected the problem solving abilities of students in the experimental and replication groups. The three groups experienced a different increase of PSS due to several factors, namely the implementation of learning, the existence of different student intelligence and student activities during learning.