Perspectives on the need for digital teaching materials for empowering critical thinking skills and problem-solving in the era of freedom of learning Available to Purchase

The Freedom of Learning era is an independent condition for educators and students to gain learning experience and knowledge to develop their potential and overcome problems in life. This concept is a response to the needs of the education system in the era of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 to prepare graduates with 21st-century skills in the form of knowledge skills, one of which is critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Educators must develop students’ knowledge skills by facilitating students to become more active, creative, and independent. The learning process needs the role of teaching materials that connect knowledge between the material taught and real-world situations in everyday life. The need for mastering technology in learning can be applied to digital-based teaching materials because it is considered practical, the material is intact in one teaching material and can be accessed anywhere, and it looks interactive. The purpose of this study is to analyze the need for digital teaching materials to empower students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Collecting data using a questionnaire following the stages of Need Assessment and Front-end Analysis from Lee & Owen. The population of this research is the second-semester biology education students at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang. The results obtained by researchers indicate that critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students relatively raise aspects of data use and analysis as well as aspects of identifying solutions that are only limited to the surface, not in-depth and structured. Thus, it is necessary to develop digital-based teaching materials that can accommodate empowerment. Students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills about 21st-century learning skills. E-module is a form of presenting self-study materials that are arranged systematically into certain learning units, which are presented in electronic format, where each learning activity is interactive and programmed to achieve learning competency goals. The development of e-modules will help students develop 21st-century skills that are supportive of the Freedom of Learning era.