Enhancing socio-scientific reasoning of elementary school students through educational comics: a comprehensive exploration across diverse domain of knowledge

Figures & data

Figure 1. An example of comic panels used in the intervention.

Figure 2. SSI Scenario: (a) Narrative part of the scenario; (b) Questions representing complexity; (c) Questions related to perspective-taking; (d) Inquiry-related questions; (e) Questions related to scepticism.

Table 1. The definition of main themes.

No	Main themes	Definition*
1	Natural Science	Knowledge involves exploring and experimenting to gain an understanding of the mechanics of the natural world or the insights acquired through systematic investigation of the physical realm.
2	Engineering	Knowledge involves applying scientific principles to create various objects through design and construction.
3	Technology	Knowledge encompasses the practical application of scientific discoveries, particularly in industrial contexts.
4	Mathematics	Knowledge involves the examination of numbers, shapes, and space through reasoning, typically utilising a specialised system of symbols and rules for organisation.
5	Economics	Knowledge involves the examination of how economies function, including how they generate income and manufacture and distribute goods and services.
6	Sociology	Knowledge encompasses the exploration of the connections between individuals residing in communities.
7	Psychology	Knowledge involves the scientific examination of how the human mind functions and its impact on behaviour.
8	Ethics	Knowledge encompasses the examination of what constitutes moral correctness and what does not.

*All definitions were paraphrased from the Cambridge dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/).

Figure 3. The themes and sub-themes of the SSR dimension based on student answers, the red bar shows the number of frequencies.

Table 2. Example of students answers in complexity dimension.

Themes and sub-themes	Examples
Natural Science
Conservancy	Apart from the infrequent rainfall, I believe that changing the habits of people who tend to waste water is also necessary to promote water conservation. – student 1
Global Warming	Solving this problem is challenging, given various factors such as global warming leading to unpredictable weather. – student 3
Engineering	This is a complex problem, and I can't provide a definitive answer. However, I think it's related to increasing the capacity of reservoirs, possibly by deepening them, in addition to the efforts by the Tarakan government to increase the number of reservoirs. – student 7
Technology	This issue is highly complex, but maybe there could be innovation to filter groundwater contaminated with oil into clean water. – student 12
Economics	… solutions like connecting Tarakan to Bulungan [one city in mainland of Kalimantan] by the government will take a long time and considerable funds. – student 5
Sociology	… the government should consider building a minimum of three reservoirs per region, especially considering the growing population in Tarakan, including migrants from other areas. – student 17

Table 3. Example of students answers in perspective-taking dimension.

Themes and sub-themes	Examples
Engineering	Perhaps the government should partner with water vendors to establish pipelines to fill the reservoirs during the dry season, but it depends on whether the water vendors are willing. – student 32
Economics	Water vendors may not like this idea because their profits might decrease after collaborating with the government. – student 25
Sociology
Disagreement	Water vendors might protest against the government as they have ownership of the water. – student 2
Personal opinion	I as the community would be pleased with the idea, especially large families like my family that need a lot of water for daily activity. – student 13
Psychology	The community may have mixed feelings because they are used to easy access to clean water. Now they have to wait for water vendors, even if the cost is reduced, which can be frustrating. – student 4
Ethics
Stereotyping	Water vendors probably won't care whether Tarakan faces a water shortage or not since they have a significant water supply. – student 9
Justice	The community might still be annoyed, wondering why water isn't just provided for free. – student 40

Table 4. Example of students answers in inquiry dimension.

Themes and sub-themes	Examples
Natural Science
Research [related to chemical]	Even though the groundwater is mixed with oil, it should be evaluated chemically if it can still be used, at least for bathing. – student 34
Geographical condition	There's a lot of information I need, such as the potential of land with water sources, so the government doesn't rely solely on rainwater but also groundwater. – student 33
Engineering	Instead of desalinating seawater to freshwater, why doesn't the government focus on installation of infrastructures related to filtering oil-contaminated groundwater? – student 32
Mathematics	I need information on how many litres of water people in Tarakan use daily. – student 10

Table 5. Example of students answers in scepticism dimension.

Themes and sub-themes	Examples
Engineering
Innovation	Maybe there's a cheaper way to induce rain without using airplanes, such as using balloons. – student 19
System engineering	The cost of making rain between one researcher and another might differ; it's possible that the expenses for flying each plane carrying silver iodide vary depending on the machine's capacity. – student 43
Technology	Perhaps rain could be focused around the areas near the reservoirs to save resources, using prediction with technology. – student 21
Sociology	The cost can vary depending on the researchers’ origin. – student 11
Economics	The price would likely be the same; each researcher probably has their own standard price. – student 44

Figure 4. An example of a task in comic intervention. In the person box, you can see how students are invited to look at problems in a multiperspective way. Another thing is the existence of infographics that enrich the information in the task.