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International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

Improving the mental model of high school students related to

the concept of global warming through the implementation of
the context based learning (CBL) model combined with the
CM2RA strategy

A S Ulum1*, H Basori2, A Suhandi3 and A Samsudin3

1
Prodi S2 Pendidikan Fisika, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudi No.
229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
2
Prodi S3 Pendidikan IPA, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudi No.
229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
3
Departemen Pendidikan Fisika, Universitas pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudi
No. 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
*
Corresponding author’s email: asep.saepul12@student.upi.edu

Abstract. The aim of this study was to improve the mental model of high school students
related to the concept of global warming through the application of the CBL model using the
CM2RA strategy (context, microscopic models, macroscopic phenomena, and analogy
representation). The mental model categories reviewed include scientific, synthetic and initial
mental models. This mental model category is determined based on the test results data level of
conceptual understanding. A pre-experiment method with one group pretest-posttest design
was used in this research. The number of research subjects was 40 students consisting of 24
female students and 16 male students, in one of the high schools in the Tasikmalaya district of
West Java province. The instrument used to collect data is a test of understanding the concept
of global warming in the form of essays covering three parts of the question. The results
showed that before the application of CBL, the number of students in each mental model
category was: scientific mental model (5%), synthetic (40%), and initial (55%), whereas after
the application of CBL, the number of students in each category of mental models becomes:
scientific mental model (78%), synthetic (15%), and initial (7%). These results indicate that
the implementation of CBL with CM2RA strategies has high effectiveness in facilitating the
achievement of the scientific mental model.

1. Introduction
Some results of research in the field of science learning show that the use of traditional learning
approaches fails in facilitating the achievement of the category of scientific mental models [1-4]. This
failure shows that traditional learning can not facilitate the achievement of a sound understanding of
physics concepts by students. This failed due to the traditional learning model which less emphasizes
the submicroscopic level [1]. In line with this, Talanquer [2] said that traditional learning refers much
to the macroscopic and symbolic levels. Yet to form a proper mental model, requires a thorough
understanding of the three levels of representation namely the macroscopic representation, symbolic
representation, and sub-microscopic representation. Because the mental model is closely related to the

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International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

three levels of representation, in order that the learning held by the teacher can facilitate the
achievement of sound understanding and category of scientific mental models, needed a learning
model that emphasizes the three levels of representation [5].
One learning model that can meet these needs is the context based learning (CBL) model. Concept,
scientific aspect, and its role in our lives should be combined and should be considered as an
implementation of the real world [6, 7]. According to context based learning theory, individuals make
associations based on the examples of daily life. By gaining experience, they start to learn [8]. What
distinguishes context based learning from other theories that adopted constructivist approach is this
philosophy. The main purpose of this theory, which was started to be employed in 1980, is to raise the
attention of students towards science and to make them realize the association between real life issues
and science [9].
The CBL model has the following syntax: student orientation in context, reading scientific articles
and answering questions/proposing problem solutions, class discussions discussing the answers of
each group, constructing conception through demonstration activities, visualization, practice and
discussion, discussing contexts, and strengthening and enrichment on relevant events/phenomena [10].
The stages of conceptualization through demonstration, visualization, practice and discussion on CBL
models are seen to facilitate students to be able to achieve sound understanding. Whereas the use of
the CM2RA strategy which includes the explanation of the context at the macroscopic and sub-
microscopic level which is supported by the representation of dynamic model and analogies done with
hope that students can have conceptual understanding up to sub-microscopic level. The dynamic
analogy for long wave scattering by particles of green housegases used in this study is in the form of
scattering various types of balls of different sizes by basketball hoops. With the presence of three
levels of representation in physics learning, it is expected that high school students can achieve a
scientific mental model. Appearance visual representations of knowledge, concepts or ideas may help
to guide the thoughts in the learner’s mind [11].
One of the physics content at high school that requires an understanding of the three levels of
representation is the global warming. This study was conducted to obtain an overview of the
effectiveness of the use of the CBL model combined with the CM2RA strategy in facilitating the
achievement of the scientific mental model among high school students related to the concept of
global warming.

2. Methods
The method used is a pre-experiment method with one group pretest-posttest design. The number of
participant was 40 students (24 female and 16 male), in one of the high schools in the Tasikmalaya
district of West Java province.
The instrument used is a test of conceptual understanding related to concept of global warming in
the form of essays covering three parts of the question. This test is named Global Warming Concept
Understanding Test (GWCUTest), which stands for a test of conceptual understanding related to
concept of global warming. Question-1 (Q1) requires an answer about the concept of global warming,
question-2 (Q2) requires about the causes of global warming, and question-3 (Q3) requires a response
in the form of a state of the representation of microscopic pictorial of the mechanism of confinement
of long-wave radiation by greenhouse gases. For scoring conceptual understanding test for part of
questions 1 (Q1) and question 2 (Q2) was used rubric by Kurnaz [12], as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Evaluation Rubric for Descriptive Responses
Levels of Understanding (LU) Score Criteria
Responses containing all components of the
Sound Understanding (SU) 4
scientifically accepted response
Responses containing some components of the
Partial Understanding (PU) 3
scientifically accepted response

2
International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

Levels of Understanding (LU) Score Criteria

Partial Understanding with
Alternative Conception (PU-AC)
Alternative Conception (AC)
No Understanding (NU)
Responses showing that the concept is
2 understood but also containing alternative
conceptions
Scientifically incorrect responses containing
1
illogical or incorrect information
0 Blank, irrelevant, or unclear responses

For analyse students’ answers to the question that required drawing (Q3), a rubric was developed
based on Abraham’s rubric [11] and an initial analysis of answers given to the third question was
performed via the data collection tool and based on the study of Sağlam Arslan [13] (Table 2).
Table 2. Evaluation Rubric for Visual Responses [12]
Levels of Understanding (LU) Score Criteria
Drawings reflecting all components of the
Correct Depicting (CD) 4
scientific depiction
Drawings reflecting some components of the
Partial Correct Depicting (PCD) 3
scientific depiction
Correct Drawings reflecting also Drawings reflecting scientific or partial
2
Nonscientific Depicting (CD-ND) scientific but also nonscientific depictions
Drawings reflecting wholly nonscientific
Incorrect Depicting (ID) 1
depictions
No Depicting (ND) 0 Blank

To determine the mental model category of each student based on the results of conceptual
understanding related to the concept of global warming was used guidelines as shown in Table 3 [12].
Table 3. Evaluation Rubric for Mental Models
Mental Models
Content Criteria
(MM)
Scientific Perceptions which coincide Score for question A, B and C
with scientific knowledge: everything is high (3 or 4)
answers at level 3 (PU or
PCD) or 4 (SU or CD).
Synthetic Perceptions which partially Score for question A, B and C
coincide or do not coincide (some are high (3 or 4) but
with scientific knowledge. some are low (0 or 1 or 2)
Initial Perceptions which do not Score for question A, B and C
coincide with scientific everything is low (0 0r 1 or 2)
knowledge: answers at level 0
(NU or ND), 1 (AC or ID) or 2
(PU-AC or CD-ND).

3. Results and Discussion

Table 4 shows the scores achieved by high school students for each part of the GWCUTest question at
before and after the implementation of CBL.

3
International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

Tabel 4. The score for each part of question og GWCUTest

High school students Before CBL High school students After CBL
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q1 Q2 Q3
S8, S26 3 3 3 S4, S5, S8, S19, S26 4 4 4
S5, S20, S23 3 2 1 S1, S7, S20, S24, S34, S36 4 3 4
S1, S7, S24 3 2 0 S23, S30, S31, S37, S39, 4 3 3
S18, S25, S29, S32
S4, S15, S19, S34, S36 3 1 1 S2, S6, S9, S10, S16, S17 3 3 4
S27, S30, S31, S37, S39 3 1 0 S14, S22, S28, S33, S40 3 3 3
S2, S9, S11, S12, S17, S18 2 1 1 S13, S15 3 2 3
S6, S13, S16, S32, S33 2 1 0 S3, S38 3 2 2
S3, S10, S21, S22 2 0 0 S21, S27 3 1 3
S14, S28, S40 1 1 0 S11, S35 2 2 2
S25, S29, S35, S38 1 0 0 S12 2 2 0
Based on Table 4, it can be determined the categories of mental models achieved by each student
related to the concept of global warming. Furthermore, It can be calculated the number of high school
students in each category of mental models by knowing the categories of mental models reached by
each student. Table 5 shows the number of students in each category of mental models related to the
concept of global warming before and after the implementation of CBL.
Table 5. Number of students in each mental model category related to the concept of
global warming before and after implementation of CBL
Before CBL After CBL
Category Percent Category
Number of Number of Percent
of mental (%) of mental
students students (%)
model model
Scientific 2 5 Scientific 31 78
Synthetic 16 40 Synthetic 6 15
Initial 22 55 Initial 3 7
Total 40 100 Total 40 100
Based on Table 5, there was a change in the mental model category between before and after the
implementation of CBL. The number of students who reached the category of scientific mental models
increased while the number of students who reached the category of synthetic and initial mental
models decreased. The pattern of changes in the category of mental models achieved by students from
before to after following the CBL activity is shown in Figure 1.
The results of this study show the great potential of CBL in facilitating the achievement of
understanding concepts in depth and comprehensively. This potential is possible because the processes
in CBL lead to the construction of conceptions in the minds of students through their own construction
process. CBL engages students in learning that demands activating their thinking and metacognitive
skills, motivates students, and encourages them to be scientifically literate [14]. Reading adapted
scientific articles as part of a context-based approach helps students develop an understanding of
scientific concepts and how these concepts are connected to real-world problems [15]. The results of
this study are in line with those obtained by Dori et al [16] which shows that the application of CBL in
science learning can improve students' understanding of concepts and metacognition.

4
International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

Before CBL After CBL

Scientific mental model (2) Scientific mental model

S8, S26
Synthetic mental model
S1, S4, S5, S7, S15, S19, (14)
S20, S23, S24, S27, S30,
S31, S34, S36, S37, S39
Initial mental model
S2, S3, S6, S9, S10, S11,
S12, S13, S14, S16, S17,
S18, S21, S22, S25, S28,
S29, S32, S33, S35, S38,
S40
S1, S2, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8,
S9, S10, S14, S16, S17, S18,
S19, S20, S22, S23, S24,
S25, S26, S28, S29, S30,
S31, S32, S33, S34, S36,
(2) S37, S39, S40
Synthetic mental model
S3, S13, S15, S21, S27, S38
(15)
(4)
Initial mental model
S11, S12, S35
(3)

Figure 1. The pattern of changes in the category of mental models achieved

by students from before to after following the CBL activity

4. Conclussion
Based on the research data, the implementation of the CBL model combined with the CM2RA strategy
has high effectiveness in facilitating students in achieving the scientific mental model category. This
indicates that the integration of the CM2RA strategy with the CBL model can facilitate the process of
conceptual development that leads to the formation of a sound and comprehensive understanding of
the concept of global warming in the minds of high school students.

5. References
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Thinking Chemistry Education Research and Practice 15 1 10-23
[2] Talanquer V 2011 Macro, Submicro, and Symbolic: The Many Faces of The Chemistry
“Triplet” International Journal of Science Education 33 2 179-195
[3] Suhandi A, Rusdiana D, Samsudin A and Wibowo F C 2019 Identifying pre-service physics
teacher mental model on electric conceptions In Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1204
1 012058
[4] Imaduddin M, Zuhaida A and Hidayah F F 2019 Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Images about
Their Past and Future Classrooms: Scratches from Indonesian Teacher Training Program at
Islamic University Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists 7 3 459-480
[5] Hilton A and Nichols K 2011 Representational Classroom Practices that Contribute to Students’
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[6] King D, Bellocchi A and Ritchie S M 2008 Making connections: Learning and teaching
chemistry in context Research in Science Education 38 3 365-384
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[8] Choi H J and Johnson S D 2005 The effect of context-based video instruction on learning and
motivation in online courses American Journal of Distance Education 19 4 215-227

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International Conference on Mathematics and Science Education 2019 (ICMScE 2019) IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1521 (2020) 022008 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1521/2/022008

[9] Bennett J, Hogarth S and Lubben F 2003 A systematic review of the effects of context-based and
Science-Technology-Society (STS) approaches in the teaching of secondary science EPPI-
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[10] De Jong O 2008 Context-based chemical education: How to improve it Chemical Education
International 8 1 1-7
[11] Malik S K and Zaman N 2012 Effect of graphical organizer teaching model on students’
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[12] Kurnaz M A and Eksi C 2015 An Analysis of High School Students’ Mental Models of Solid
Friction in Physics Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 15 3 787-795
[13] Sağlam-Arslan A 2009 Cross-grade comparison of students’ understanding of energy concepts
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[14] Bennett J and Holman J 2002 Context-based approaches to the teaching of chemistry: What are
they and what are their effects? InChemical education: Towards research-based practice
165–184
[15] Herscovitz O, Kaberman Z, Saar L and Dori Y J 2012 The relationship between metacognition
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