The effect of hots-based question stimulus types and learning styles on students' cognitive response, thoroughness, and conceptual understanding in biology learning

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the effects of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) question stimulus types and students' learning styles on cognitive response, thoroughness, and conceptual understanding. The research involved 340 eleventh-grade high school students from three schools in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.  The stimulus types included narration, table, picture, and chart while learning styles were categorized as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic using a 4x3 factorial experimental design. Data on learning styles, cognitive response and thoroughness were collected through questionnaires while conceptual understanding was assessed through tests. Data analysis was performed using MANOVA in SPSS 26.0. Results revealed that stimulus types significantly influenced conceptual understanding (η² = 0.289) with narration stimuli yielding the highest scores but had no significant effect on cognitive response or thoroughness. Learning styles significantly affected thoroughness (η² = 0.031) and conceptual understanding (η² = 0.036) with kinesthetic learners demonstrating the highest thoroughness followed by auditory learners. Additionally, the interaction between stimulus types and learning styles significantly affected cognitive response (η² = 0.048) but not thoroughness or conceptual understanding. These findings suggest that teachers should integrate diverse HOTS question stimuli and consider learning styles to enhance thoroughness and higher-order thinking skills. Future research should replicate this study with larger, diverse samples and explore similar interactions in other subjects to broaden the applicability of the findings.