<![CDATA[This study aims to examine the effect of concept-map-based learning on elementary school students' understanding of the concept of space and region within Social Studies (IPS) instruction. Understanding spatial concepts is a fundamental competence that students must master, yet in practice such learning is often delivered through rote memorization and conventional lecturing, resulting in a low and fragmented conceptual grasp of location, distance, and the relationship between places. Concept maps, grounded in the theory of meaningful learning, are believed to help students organize hierarchical information and connect prior knowledge with new concepts related to space and region. This research employed a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design. The research was conducted at SDN 022/XI Sumur Anyir, involving all twenty fifth-grade students selected through total sampling. Data were collected using a spatial-concept comprehension test administered before and after four sessions of concept-map-based instruction, then analyzed through normality testing, N-Gain calculation, and a paired-sample t-test. The results showed that the average pretest score of 54.25 increased to 82.10 in the posttest, with an average N-Gain of 0.62, categorized as moderate, and forty percent of students reaching the high category. The paired t-test indicated a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest scores (p < 0.05), confirming that concept-map-based learning significantly improved students' understanding of spatial and regional concepts. These findings suggest that concept maps are an effective pedagogical strategy for elementary Social Studies instruction and can be considered by teachers as an alternative to conventional lecture-based methods, particularly for materials that are abstract and hierarchically structured.]]>
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