Fun thinkers book and science textbook: Which is more effective in improving elementary school students' comprehension?

Abstract

Science textbooks are widely available and accessible in elementary schools, often at no expense to students. However, evaluating and comparing their effectiveness with a visually engaging alternative, such as a fun thinkers book model that incorporates numerous illustrations, is necessary. Elementary school students exhibit a strong favor for images over text. This study aims to assess students' comprehension abilities utilizing the fun thinkers book and traditional science textbooks. This study employs a quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The data collection method employed a test instrument to assess knowledge and practices related to waste management with an environmental theme. Data analysis employed an independent sample t-test to assess the statistical significance difference between the experimental and control groups. The findings indicated that the students who utilized the fun thinkers book exhibited a better understanding of waste management than those who relied on the textbook. Including pictures in the fun thinkers book enhanced the learning engagement of elementary school students, resulting in a higher level of comprehension than students who used the textbook alone.