Featuring the Comic Nym the Leaf Fairy in Teaching about the Plant System at Elementary School Science
H Y Phoon, R Roslan, M Shahrill, H M Said, R C I Prahmana

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
University Ahmad Dahlan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

This study explored the use of comics as an aid in teaching elementary science on the topic of Plant Systems. A total of 18 Grade 5 student from one of the elementary schools in Brunei Darussalam participated in the study. A 15 page fully colored comic featuring a leaf fairy character called Nym was utilized to teach the students alongside various activities about plant during the intervention lessons. A pre test was administered prior to the lesson to establish their existing knowledge of the topic, and then a post test administered after all the intervention lessons were completed. The results from the achievement scores analyzed between the pre and post test indicated that the student performance improved significantly. Furthermore, the students were found to be interested, engaged and enthusiastic in the use of comics as revealed from the thematic analysis of the interviews. There are also vast potentials for comics to be used regularly to support learning in science related classrooms.

Keywords: Comics, Teaching aid, Elementary Science

Topic: 2. Science Education