An Analysis of the Scientific Attitudes of Fifth Graders through Guided Discovery Learning

This study is aimed to investigate the effect of guided discovery learning (GDL) on the fifth graders’ scientific attitudes. A teaching intervention was planned based on GDL which was then practiced in the two science classes (each class with n = 17) at Public Primary School (PPS). The data were collected through questionnaires and were analyzed by comparing the scores of initial and final scientific attitudes of the control and experimental group using independent-samples T-test and the categorization table. The research results show that GDL positively affected the fifth graders’ scientific attitudes. There is a significant difference in the students’ final scientific attitudes scores [t(32)= -3.591;p < 0.05]. This finding implies that GDL is an alternative learning scheme that can be accommodated to foster students’ scientific attitudes. Fostering scientific attitudes builds students’ resilience to cope with today’s and tomorrow’s hoaxes and misconceptions.

The students are encouraged to observe, classify, predict, design, and carry out activities such as experiment and demonstration.
These activities, however, should ignore any subjective assumptions made by individual or group of students. The students must be able to demonstrate scientific attitudes which prioritize objectivity when they are engaged in a scientific quest either in class or in their daily lives.
The urgency of building students' scientific attitudes (Kurniawan et al., 2019) is also parallel with the latest demand from our society, especially among Indonesians: tackling the hoaxes and misconceptions. There have been hoaxes circulated these days (Idris, 2019) caused by the lack of scientific attitudes among society members.  Getinet, 2012;Chi, 2009;Hodge, 2007).
Therefore, teachers must view themselves as more of a facilitator than a figure that knows everything (Hodge, 2007 (Reynolds, 2016;Saab et al., 2009) (Reynolds, 2016;Saab et al., 2009 (Chan, Burtis, & Bereiter, 1997). Teachers must also realize that guided discovery is actually not a group work; it is implemented through group work (Dumitraşcu, 2009). This can be inferred that discovery learning, in fact, does not endorse cooperative learning.
Discovery learning is actually derived from the constructivist learningan active learning process that involves students to build their own knowledge by discovering the targeted information independently (Mayer, 2004 (Lavine, 2005;Shrager & Klahr, 1983). Teachers must also understand that discovery learning can be positioned on a scale ranging from independent discovery or pure discovery to guided discovery learning and controlled-insightful learning (Zydney et al., 2012). This paper discusses GDL as one of the variations of discovery learning.
GDL, on other hand, is an instructional model in which students are given guidance to accomplish and to discover predetermined outcome (Mukherjee, 2015). The predetermined goal usually requires students to find some general principle by studying specific situations (Mandrin, 2010) GDL demands a plenty use of questions which often focused on learning, exploring, and solving various problems (Scott & Freeman, 2010 (Westwood, 2008). Discovery-based instruction can be implemented as the effort to make students become more proactive and independent on finding explanation regarding on what they can see, hear, and touch rather than on personal or speculative opinions (Chalmers, 2013

Research instruments
The research instrument in this study was a questionnaire. The questionnaire about students' scientific attitudes was filled out by students before and after GDL intervention.

Procedure
The intervention lasted 3 weeks.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The effect of GDL intervention on students' scientific attitudes was determined on the base of the scores obtained from scientific attitudes questionnaires. The scores of the students obtained from the scientific attitudes questionnaires before and after the GDL were then determined. The scores of the questionnaires were analyzed using independent sample T test to determine the effect of GDL implementation on students' scientific attitudes and the scores were categorized based on Table   2. The independent-samples T test results regarding the scores are explained in Table 3 and Table 4.  sub-scientific attitudes of both groups concerning the initial and final condition is explained in Table 5 and Table 6. scientific attitudes before and after GDL was implemented, after the score were analyzed using the independent sample T test it showed that there was no significant effect before GDL was implemented and there was significant effect after GDL was implemented as in Table 3 and Table 4.  This was only possible if there was a common goal among group members (van Boxtel et al., 2000). GDL gave students chances to negotiate with their peers in constructing new knowledge (Chan et al., 1997