<![CDATA[Creative thinking is one of the essential skills that must be possessed by students in the 21st century. However, in practice, many students have difficulty in developing these skills. Therefore, this study aims to improve students' creative thinking skills through the application of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model in the learning process. This study used a one-group pretest-posttest design, which is included in the pre-experimental category. The subjects of the study consisted of 34 seventh grade students at UPT SMPN 18 Gresik who were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The research instruments included a creative thinking test conducted before and after learning, as well as an observation sheet to monitor the implementation of learning. Data were collected through observation and testing, then analyzed using the V Gain test to measure the increase in creative thinking skills based on the results of the pretest and posttest. In addition, descriptive analysis was carried out by calculating the average score from the observation sheet to assess the effectiveness of the application of the learning model. The results showed that the application of the PBL model significantly improved students' creative thinking skills, with a high increase category based on the N-Gam calculation. This finding confirms that the use of the PBL model in learning the sub-material of soil pollution can help junior high school students develop creative thinking skills more effectively. ABSTRAKBerpikir kreatif merupakan salah satu keterampilan esensial yang harus dimiliki oleh peserta didik pada abad ke-21. Namun, dalam praktiknya, banyak peserta didik mengalami kesulitan dalam mengembangkan keterampilan tersebut. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kreatif peserta didik melalui penerapan model Problem-Based Learning (PBL) dalam proses pembelajaran. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain one-group pretest-posttest, yang tergolong dalam kategori pra-eksperimen. Subjek penelitian terdiri atas 34 peserta didik kelas VII di UPT SMPN 18 Gresik yang dipilih menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Instrumen penelitian meliputi tes berpikir kreatif yang dilakukan sebelum dan sesudah pembelajaran, serta lembar observasi untuk memantau pelaksanaan pembelajaran. Data dikumpulkan melalui observasi dan pengujian, kemudian dianalisis menggunakan uji N-Gain guna mengukur peningkatan kemampuan berpikir kreatif berdasarkan hasil pretest dan posttest. Selain itu, analisis deskriptif dilakukan dengan menghitung rata-rata skor dari lembar observasi untuk menilai efektivitas penerapan model pembelajaran. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan model PBL secara signifikan meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kreatif peserta didik, dengan kategori peningkatan yang tinggi berdasarkan perhitungan N-Gain. Temuan ini menguatkan bahwa penggunaan model PBL dalam pembelajaran submateri pencemaran tanah dapat membantu peserta didik SMP mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir kreatif secara lebih efektif.]]>
