<![CDATA[Creative thinking is one of the four core 21st-century competencies (4C) that need to be developed from the elementary school level. A preliminary study on 30 sixth-grade students at one of the state elementary schools (SDN) in Karawang showed that creative thinking skills were still moderate to low (average score 59.4%), particularly on the originality indicator. This study aimed to examine the effect of a STEM-based 5E-Learning Cycle model on the creative thinking skills of fifth-grade elementary school students on the topic of Magnets, Electricity, and Technology for Life. A quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental method and a Nonequivalent Control Group Design was used, involving two pre-existing (intact) classes of 40 fifth-grade students (20 per class): an experimental class taught with the STEM-based 5E-Learning Cycle and a control class taught with the 5E-Learning Cycle based on the scientific approach. Creative thinking skills were measured with a validated and reliable essay test (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90). The average N-Gain of creative thinking skills in the experimental class was 0.731 (high category), higher than the control class at 0.620 (moderate category); an independent-samples t-test on the N-Gain scores showed a significant difference between the two groups, t(38) = 3.19, p = .003, with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.01). The greatest improvement occurred on the originality indicator (N-Gain = 0.822). It is concluded that the STEM-based 5E-Learning Cycle model has a significant and substantial effect on students' creative thinking skills, within the scope of this quasi-experimental, single-school study.]]>
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