IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PJBL) MODULE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TO ENHANCE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AT SMK NEGERI 2 SEMARANG

Abstract

The critical thinking skills of Grade X Marketing students at SMK Negeri 2 Semarang were relatively low due to the predominance of conventional teaching methods and students' difficulties in adapting during the transition from junior high school to vocational high school. This community service program aimed to stimulate students' critical thinking skills through the implementation of an innovative Project-Based Learning (PjBL)-based module in the Basic Marketing course. The program involved vocational teachers and 36 students from Grade X Marketing Class 1 as its partners. The implementation consisted of program socialization, training, project-based classroom instruction, structured scaffolding, and impact evaluation. The results of the program descriptively demonstrated a highly positive improvement in students' critical thinking skills, as reflected in the substantial increase in the mean cognitive score from 61.11 on the pre-test to 90.44 on the post-test. The implementation of the module proved to be effective in enhancing the quality of learning by promoting active group participation, encouraging students to express their opinions confidently, and developing their ability to identify problems and formulate practical solutions to authentic marketing case studies. Nevertheless, its effectiveness in practice remained constrained by the limited duration of the cognitive intervention during students' transitional learning phase.