Beyond Surface Learning: Deep Learning-Based Card Sort Media for Enhancing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Biology Education

Asdar Efendi; Muhammad Sri Yusal; Herlina Herlina

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6470

Asdar Efendi Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia
Muhammad Sri Yusal Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia
Herlina Herlina Master's Program in Biology Education, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Patompo, Makassar, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i04.6470

Keywords: Card Sort; Deep Learning; Higher-Order Thinking Skills; Learning Activity; Learning Outcomes.

Abstract

Twenty-first-century education calls for a shift from surface, rote memorisation toward deep, higher-order thinking, yet many active-learning media, including the popular Card Sort technique, still risk facilitating only surface engagement. This study examined a Deep Learning-based Card Sort medium designed to trigger cause-effect reasoning rather than visual matching, testing its effect on learning activity and learning outcomes using a quasi-experimental, Nonequivalent Control Group design at a senior secondary school in Indonesia, on the human movement system topic. The sample comprised an experimental class of 22 students and a control class of 25 students. Data were collected through a learning-activity observation sheet and pretest-posttest achievement tests, and analysed with descriptive statistics, N-Gain, normality and homogeneity tests, and an independent samples t-test. The experimental class recorded a mean learning-activity score of 86.73% (very active) against 75.56% (active) in the control class. Its posttest mean reached 90.55 with 100% mastery learning, compared with 82.08 and 84% mastery in the control class, and its mean N-Gain was 0.7396 (high category) against 0.5533 (moderate) in the control class. The independent samples t-test confirmed a significant difference between groups (t = 3.9221, p = 0.0003). These findings indicate that embedding deep-learning principles into Card Sort media meaningfully strengthens both engagement and higher-order achievement, offering a low-cost, globally transferable model for active learning reform in science classrooms.

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