Ecoliteracy-Based on Digital Storytelling Comic Media for Elementary School in Indonesia

Abstract

Science education is very important to educate individuals with the knowledge, skills, and mindset that are required in the 21st century (Sadera et al., 2020). It is essential to have a foundation in education which promotes scientific literacy, not only improves academic performance but also nurtures curiosity, scientific methods, and develops skills for both classroom and field studies (Havu-Nuutinen et al., 2021; Alan & Mumcu, 2022). Science education is needed to help students understand scientific ideas, so they can keep up in a technology-driven world and make a positive impact in the future (OECD, 2023). However, most of the problems that students have with learning science are related to the availability of learning media. Digital storytelling which is a modern version of traditional storytelling, is becoming more popular as an teaching tool. It improves science learning by combination of media and storytelling which makes learning more interesting while still encouraging students to be creative, think critically and understand the complex concepts. This study identify classroom needs and challenges to explore digital comics utilization as an innovative teaching tool for elementary school students. This research uses a 4D model (define, design, develop, and disseminate) with 30 third grade students and 4 homeroom teachers reviewing and evaluating comic media involving experts’ validation.  This study employs qualitative descriptive research using questionnaires and interviews. The result of this research was very feasible, as shown by the validation result of 91.83% from the media expert and 92,71% from the material expert, students’ questionnaire responses aligned with the study’s objectives, with a mean percentage of 91.27%, while teachers’ responses were slightly higher at 91.818% and confirmed the need and potential of incorporating digital comics and storytelling into science learning. This concludes that digital comics with visual storytelling can be used as creative teaching tools to help students get better understanding and learning the science concepts.