-This study aims to determine the effect of learning cycle 5E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaboration, & PENDAHULUANFisika dipandang sebagai suatu proses dan produk. Fisika sebagai proses berarti pemahaman mengenai bagaimana informasi ilmiah fisika dapat diperoleh dengan melakukan pengamatan, pengukuran, penyelidikan dan publikasi. Sedangkan fisika sebagai produk berarti fisika sebagai kumpulan pengetahuan berupa fakta, konsep, prinsip, hukum, rumus, dan teori. Suprijono (2011) menyatakan bahwa banyak peserta didik sebenarnya mampu menyajikan tingkat hafalan yang baik terhadap materi ajar yang diterima namun pada kenyataannya mereka tidak memahaminya. Pembelajaran fisika tidak hanya sekedar menghafal, namun perlunya pemahaman yang lebih untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir yang dimilikinya.Pembelajaran fisika juga seyogyanya mempertimbangkan strategi atau metode pembelajaran yang efektif dan efisien untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir peserta didik. Sesuai dengan tuntutan kurikulum 2013 yang menginginkan adanya peningkatan pada indikator kemampuan berpikir kritis seperti kemampuan mengevaluasi. Menginovasi proses pembelajaran merupakan cara yang tepat bagi guru untuk mengembangkan kemampuan berpikir kritis. Hal yang dapat dilakukan adalah dengan menggunakan model pembelajaran yang sesuai.Berdasarkan hasil observasi melalui wawancara dengan salah seorang guru fisika di MAN 1 Mataram menunjukkan bahwa proses pembelajaran yang diterapkan selama ini belum mampu meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis, karena latihan untuk peningkatan kemampuan tersebut belum dilakukan. Penyebab lainnya adalah karena model pembelajaran yang digunakan terkesan monoton dan kurang variatif.Menggunakan model pembelajaran yang tepat adalah cara yang perlu dilakukan. Salah satu model pembelajaran alternatif yang dapat digunakan adalah model learning cycle 5E. Model ini dikembangkan untuk menciptakan aktivitas pembelajaran yang efektif dan efisien dalam rangka meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis peserta didik. Model learning cycle 5E yang digunakan ini memiliki lima tahapan yakni engage, explore, explain, elaboration, & evaluate.

The paper will clarify STEM education learning activity of making simple tool to produce analong rice. The developed lesson plan is developed as collaboration among Physics, Chemistry and Biology teachers to address the issue on rice issue. The STEM education learning activity will be developed based on Sutaphan and Yuenyong [11] the context-based STEM education learning approach. The activity will start from identification of social issue of consumption of rice. The issue will engage students to develop projects for solutions. Consuming rice can trigger several types of diseases. Display the disease that will be suffered because of excessive consumption of rice. Starting from that thought, it would be very suitable if STEM was applied in the development of ideas related to making simple tools to produce analog rice. Through the context-based STEM education learning approach, students may motivate students to apply knowledge about physics, chemistry, and biology in order to design some technology prototypes or products through engineer design process. To design a tool for making simple analog rice, students may apply the principle of thermodynamics, classifying the nutritional content of the ingredients, and mixing the ingredients in terms of the tools. This paper may have implications for designing STEM education learning activities.

This study is aimed to identify students’ difficulties in understanding vector concepts in physics because many students think that vector concept is very difficult to understand. This research used an embedded approach research design with quantitative descriptive methods and the sampling used a random sampling technique. Total sample of 142 students from two different schools in Central Lombok district. Test of understanding of vector (TUV) used to test the understanding of students consist of 20 item questions, then followed by interview session with several students. Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric descriptive and inferential statistic was used to performed data analysis. The results of this study indicate that (i) students’ ability to understand vector concepts is still lacking and tends to be very lacking; (ii) the most difficult items for students are the unit vector graphic representation and the graphical representation of vector multiplication. The concept of vector is still considered very difficult for students, especially if the item questions use graphical representations. For further researchers, it is better to conduct a study related to what kind of learning system can support and reduce the difficulties faced by students in learning vector concepts especially on graphical representation.

This research aims to investigate and compare students’ responses in solving physics problems about kinematics concepts. The students’ responses cover the conceptual understanding as overall performance, representational abilities, and students’ response patterns.This research is a non-experimental survey research with thequantitative-descriptive approach. The research samples consisted of 56 students determined by purposive sampling technique. The research instrument was adapted from the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) in Physport Assessmentwhich has been validated. The students’ responses were analyzedusing descriptive statistics to measure the average and standard deviation. Students’ answers were also grouped according to the type of representation and pattern of presentation in percentages. The results showed a significant difference between the tenth-grade students and eleventh-grade students' understanding of the Kinematics concept. Furthermore, the students found it easier to answer mathematical representation questions rather than graphical representation questions.