11 
 

 
JESE 1 (2) (2021) 

 

Journal of Environmental and Science Education 

https://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/jese 
 

The Effectiveness of Student Facilitator and Explaining Learning Model 
Assisted by Edmodo to Enhanced Students' Problem Solving Ability 

 
Hanis Aulia1*, Erna Noor Savitri1 

1Science Education Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, 
Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, Indonesia 50229 

 

 
 
Article Info 
________________  
Received 4 Mei 2021 
Accepted 10 Agustus 2021 
Published 30 September 2021  
________________  
Keywords: 

Student Facilitator and Explaining,  
Edmodo,  
Problem Solving Ability 
 
____________________ 

*Corresponding author: 
Hanis Aulia 
Universitas Negeri Semarang 
E-mail: hanisaulia59@gmail.com 
 

 
Abstract   
This study aims to determine the effect and 
effectiveness of the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
(SFAE) learning model assisted by Edmodo to 
enhanced students’ problem solving abilities. This 
study uses a quasi-experimental research method. The 
sample in this study was taken by cluster random 
sampling technique. Data collection techniques in this 
study used interviews, tests, and questionnaires. 
Analysis of the influence and effectiveness of the 
Student Facilitator and Explaining (SFAE) learning 
model assisted by Edmodo using N-gain analysis and 
comparative t-test related analysis. The results of the 
N-gain analysis showed that there was an increase in 
problem solving ability in the experimental class by 
0,45 and in the control class by 0,20. The results of the 
comparative t-test related showed that there was a 
significant difference between the problem solving 
abilities of the control class and the experimental class 
with t count (3.97) > t tabel (2,0003). The results of the 
student response questionnaire after carrying out 
learning with the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
(SFAE) learning model assisted by Edmodo showed a 
very good response of 88.4%. The results showed that 
the Student Facilitator and Explaining (SFAE) learning 
model assisted by Edmodo was effective in enhanced 
students' problem solving abilities.

 

 
©2021 Universitas Negeri Semarang  

p-ISSN 2797-0175 
e-ISSN 2775-2518  

 

 

  

 
 



 
 

 
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INTRODUCTION 
 

Learning in the 21st century helps students to 
be able to develop their abilities (Prihatmojo et 
al., 2019). One of the 21st century skills that 
students must have is problem solving ability. 
Problem solving ability is an ability that 
originates and grows from the human cognitive 
system, that is a process consisting of four 
interrelated gradual activities namely: 
identifying problems, understanding problems, 
solving problems, and evaluating problems 
(Zunanda & Sinulingga, 2015). Indicators of 
problem solving ability consist of: (1) 
Identification the problem, (2) Planning a 
solution, (3) Resolving the problem according to 
plan, (4) Re-checking all steps (Jayadiningrat & 
Ati, 2018). Based on the results of interviews 
conducted with the seventh grade science 
teacher at SMP Negeri 32 Semarang, it was found 
that the level of problem solving ability of 
seventh grade students in science was on a scale 
of two out of a total of five scales. Students with 
good problem solving ability only amount to 
35% of 31 students in one class, it can conclude 
that only 10 to 11 students has good problem 
solving ability. 

Previous research on efforts to improve 
students' problem solving skills have been 
carried out by Sumiantari et al. (2019), with 
applying a problem based learning model to 
improve students' problem solving abilities and 
showing that there is an increase in students' 
problem solving abilities at a moderate level and 
weaknesses are found in research, that learning 
has not maximum to increased student activity 
and learning interest, as well as students still 
have difficulty in carrying out learning using 
problem based learning. Based on that, this study 
will apply other learning models to improve 
students' problem solving skills. The learning 
model that will be applied must be able to 
increase the interest, active learning of students, 
and be easy to apply. This study will apply 
Student Facilitator and Explaining learning 
model to improve the problem solving abilities 
of students. 

This study aims to determine the effect and 
effectiveness of the Student Facilitator and 
Explaining learning model assisted by Edmodo 
on the problem solving abilities of students 
regarding environmental pollution material. The 
Student Facilitator and Explaining learning 
model is a learning model to make students 
easier to understand the learning material 
because in this learning model students allowed 
to present and share with other students about a 
subject matter or an idea. Students Ideas and 
opinions can make students active in learning. In 
the learning process with the Student Facilitator 

and Explaining learning model, students will act 
as facilitators or peer tutors with the task of 
providing explanations or explaining to other 
students (Widiasih et al., 2019). This study 
combines the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
learning model with Edmodo. Edmodo is an 
interesting application for teachers and students 
that functions to share ideas, files, activity 
agendas, and assignments that can create teacher 
and student interactions. Another function of 
Edmodo is to help make it easier for students and 
teachers to communicate outside of learning 
done in class (Aulia et al., 2019). 

 
METHOD 

 

The study was conducted at SMP Negeri 32 
Semarang which is located at Jl. Ki 
Mangunsarkoro No.1, Karangkidul, Kec. Central 
Semarang, Semarang City, Central Java 50241. 
The study was conducted in class VII of the 
2020/2021 academic year. The sample in this 
study was taken by using cluster random 
sampling technique. The sample used in this 
study was class VII-H as the control class and 
class VII-I as the experimental class. Data 
collection techniques used interviews, tests, and 
student responses questionnaire.  

The research method used in this study is a 
quasi-experimental design in the form of a 
nonequivalent control group design. This study 
consisted of two groups: a control group and the 
experimental group were treated differently in 
each group. Tabel 1 is a design study conducted 
at SMPN 32 Semarang: 

 

Table 1. Design of study 

Group Pretest Treatment 

Experiment O1 X 

Control O3 Y 

 

Information: 

O1 : Pretest experiment class 

O2  : Posttest experiment class 

O3  : Pretest control class 

O4  : Posttest control class 

X     : Learning with SFAE assisted by 
Edmodo 

Y : Learning with direct learning  

Before analyzing the problem solving abilities 
of students, a pretest and posttest data normality 
test is carried out first to determine the statistical 
test to be used. Based on the results of the 
normality test on the pretest and posttest scores 
of students in the control class and experimental 



 
 

 
Aulia, H. et al. / Journal of Environmental and Science Education 1 (2) 2021 

 
    

 

13 
 

class, it was found that the pretest and posttest 
scores in both classes were normally distributed, 
so this study used a parametric test in the form 
of normalized gain (g) analysis to analyze the 
effect of the SFAE learning model assisted by 
Edmodo on students' problem solving abilities 
and comparative t-test related analysis to 
analyze the effectiveness of the SFAE model 
assisted by Edmodo in improving students' 
problem solving abilities when compared to the 
control class. 
 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 
 

Increasing students' problem solving abilities 
can be analyzed using the normalized gain (N-
Gain) test. The normalized gain (N-Gain) test of 
the pretest and posttest data for experimental 
and control class can be seen in table 2. 

 
Table 2. Results of N-Gain Problem Solving 
Ability 

Class Data Average N-
gain 

Criteria 

Experiment Pretest 57,1 0,45 Moderate 
Posttest 76,6 

Control Pretest 53,1 0,20 Low 
Posttest 62,5 

 
The N-Gain value in Table 2. shows that the 

experimental class is higher than the control 
class. The experimental class got an N-gain value 
of 0.45 in the medium category while the control 
class was 0.20 in the low category. This category 
is in accordance with Meltzer (2002) showing 
that N-gain g > 0.7 is in the high category, N-gain 
0.3 ≤ g ≤ 0.7 is in the medium category, and N-
gain g < 0.3 are in the low category. Based on the 
results of the increase from table 4.2, it can be 
seen clearly in Figure 1. 

 

Figure 1. N-Gain problem solving ability 
 

The results of the N-gain analysis showed 
that there was an increase in problem solving 

abilities from the treatment given, both in the 
control class and the experimental class. The 
increase in problem solving ability in the control 
class is 0.20 with an increase in problem solving 
ability in the low category. The increase in the 
problem solving ability of the experimental class 
was 0.45 with an increase in the problem solving 
ability of the medium category. This happened 
because there were two different treatments 
between the experimental class and the control 
class. The experimental class carried out learning 
about environmental pollution using the Student 
Facilitator and Explaining learning model 
assisted by Edmodo, and the experimental class 
carried out learning about environmental 
pollution using direct learning assisted by 
WhatsApp. 

The increase in the problem solving ability of 
students in the experimental class has increased 
by 0.45 with a moderate increase category. This 
is because learning using Student Facilitator and 
Explaining assisted by Edmodo helps students to 
be active in learning and helps students improve 
problem solving skills. Learning using the 
Student Facilitator and Explaining model 
provides opportunities for students to become a 
facilitator who provides explanations to other 
students. This can train students to be active in 
giving their opinions on environmental pollution 
problems and solutions to environmental 
pollution so that students will be more creative 
and open in giving opinions on environmental 
pollution solutions and students will find it 
easier to remember learning materials because 
learning is carried out actively in involve 
students. 

This is in accordance with research conducted 
by Mulyani (2016), namely: the Student 
Facilitator and Explaining learning model is a 
learning model that provides opportunities for 
students to participate in solving the problems 
given. The increase in problem solving abilities 
of experimental class students who are in the 
moderate improvement category is also 
influenced by several problems that exist during 
the implementation of learning, such as: not yet 
maximal participation of students in learning, 
some students still do not dare to give their 
opinions in learning, students who are not active 
since the beginning of learning will be inactive 
until the end of learning, the use of the new 
learning media, namelyEdmodo, causes some 
students to have difficulty in using it, then 
technical problems such as signals and internet 
quotas. While the increase in problem solving 

57.1
76.6

19.5

53.1
62.5

9.4

Pretest Average Posttest
Average

Enhance Value

Experiment Class Control Class



 
 

 
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abilities of control class students increased by 
0.20 with a low increase category. This is because 
the implementation of learning is still centered 
on the teacher so that students entirely depend 
on the teacher's explanation, the level of 
participation of students in learning is also still 
lacking, and learning is carried out through 
whatsapp groups which have not been able to 
attract the attention of students in learning. 

The participation of students in carrying out 
learning using the Student Facilitator and 
Explaining model can be said to be good. 
Students begin to show active participation in 
learning during group discussions, class 
discussions, and learning through zoom 
meetings. Learning using the Student Facilitator 
and Explaining model is a new learning for 
students, especially during online learning, so 
teachers must always motivate students so that 
students are enthusiastic and active in the 
implementation of learning. Although not all 
students in the experimental class showed active 
participation in every meeting, most of the 
students showed their participation in learning. 

Student can’t maximum to participate in 
learning can also be caused by learning carried 
out using Edmodo, some students have difficulty 
using Edmodo because Edmodo is a new 
learning platform for students then student 
participation is also influenced by obstacles such 
as signals, internet access and independent 
learning learners. Researchers always coordinate 
with students such as providing directions and 
tutorials on how to use Edmodo so that students 
begin to understand how to use it in learning. 
After the implementation of learning at the first 
meeting which discussed the definition of 
environmental pollution, students began to dare 
to give opinions, suggestions, and questions to 
other students or teachers. The participation of 
students always increases in every meeting, 
along with the higher motivation given by the 
teacher and increasing student interest in 
learning using Student Facilitator and 
Explaining. The participation of students in 
learning is one of the efforts that can help 
students in improving their problem solving 
abilities. Based on this, in every meeting the 
researcher always starts learning by motivating 
students to participate actively in learning. 

The learning carried out in the control class 
using the direct learning model assisted by 
Whatsapp showed the results of increasing 
problem solving abilities were lower when 
compared to increasing problem solving abilities 

in the experimental class. This happens because 
during the implementation of learning, students 
only wait for the material delivered by the 
teacher, and there is no discussion between 
students so that the learning that is carried out is 
less interactive. Students only depend on the 
teacher's explanation. This causes students to be 
less active and creative in giving opinions on the 
problems given by the teacher, so that some 
students do not know correctly how to solve 
problems. 

Based on the results of the comparative t-test 
related to the pretest data of students in the 
control class and the experimental class, it shows 
that there is no significant difference in the 
pretest data of students between the control class 
and the experimental class with t count (1.02) < t 
table (2 ,0003) so that H0 is accepted. it can be 
seen clearly in table 3. 
 
Table 3. Result of comparative t-test related for 
pretest data 

Data Class tcount ttable Criteria 

Pretest Experiment 1,02 2,0003 There is 
no 
significant 
different 

Control 

 
This results can happen because each student 

in each control class and experimental class has 
not carried out science learning on 
environmental pollution material and has not 
applied treatment to the experimental class or 
control class, so the results of the pretest students 
in the control class and experimental class show 
no difference. significant or it can be concluded 
that the students in the control class and the 
experimental class were homogeneous samples 
before the treatment was carried out. 
 

The results of the comparative t-test related 
data posttest of students in the control class and 
experimental class show t count (3.97) > t table 
(2,0003) so that H0 is rejected and it can be 
concluded that there is a significant difference 
between the results of the posttest of students 
and learning using Student Facilitator and 
Explaining assisted by Edmodo (experimental 
class) with students in direct learning assisted by 
WhatsApp (control class). it can be seen clearly 
in table 4. 
 
 
 



 
 

 
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Table 4. Result of comparative t-test related for 
posttest data 

Data Class tcount ttable Criteria 

Posttest Experiment 3,97 2,0003 There is 
significant 
different 

Control 

  
These results occurred after the 

implementation of two different treatments 
between the control class and the experimental 
class. Learning that has been carried out in the 
control class using direct learning assisted by 
WhatsApp runs like online learning which is 
usually carried out in class. Students in the 
control class have not shown activeness in 
learning and activeness in solving environmental 
pollution problems given by the teacher. 
Students tend to wait for the teacher to explain 
and provide learning materials. Students are less 
active in giving their opinions when the teacher 
gives students the opportunity to give opinions 
on solutions to environmental pollution 
problems, if there are students who have given 
opinions on solutions to environmental 
pollution, other students only listen to their 
friends' opinions without giving advice or giving 
his own opinion. 

 This creates less interactive learning between 
students so that learning is still centered on the 
teacher or teacher centered learning so that 
students' problem solving abilities have not 
increased optimally, considering that there are 
four indicators of students' problem solving 
abilities based on Jayadiningrat & Ati (2018), 
namely: (1) Understanding the problem, (2) 
Planning a solution, (3) Solving the problem 
according to plan, (4) Checking back on all steps. 
Each indicator of problem solving ability can be 
improved if students are actively involved in 
solving problems and students understand each 
step in problem solving. 

The learning that has been carried out in the 
experimental class using the Student Facilitator 
and Explaining model assisted by Edmodo 
shows the results where there is an increase in 
problem solving abilities with moderate 
improvement criteria, namely the n-gain value of 
0.45. This is supported by the results of the 
comparative t-test related test which shows a 
significant difference between the improvement 
of problem solving abilities in the experimental 
class and the control class with t count (3.97) > t 
table (2,0003). The significant difference between 
the increase in problem solving ability of the 
experimental class and the control class occurred 

because of the different treatment in each class. 
The treatment in the experimental class is that 
learning is carried out with a Student Facilitator 
and Explaining model assisted by Edmodo to 
create more interactive learning. 

Edmodo media was chosen because Edmodo 
media is a learning tool that provides facilities 
that can support the SFAE learning process. 
Edmodo is equipped with several facilities that 
can support learning activities, such as quizzes, 
assignments, polls, grade books, libraries, award 
badges, and parent codes (Ekayati R., 2018). 
Edmodo media is a new learning media used by 
students in the experimental class, so that 
students are more active in participating in 
learning. Students have the opportunity to 
discuss with each other about solutions to 
environmental pollution problems, in addition to 
this learning model students can explain each 
other and help other students to be able to 
understand the material being studied. Learning 
carried out in the experimental class is also 
assisted by using the zoom meeting platform. 
The use of the zoom meeting platform is because 
students have not maximally understood 
learning through discussion activities between 
students. So that researchers must re-explain the 
learning material so that students better 
understand the material. The use of the zoom 
platform aims to allow virtual face-to-face 
interaction so that the explanations given by the 
teacher to students are more acceptable because 
students are more accustomed to getting 
explanations orally. 

Learning in the experimental class is carried 
out according to the syntax of the Student 
Facilitator and Explaining learning model which 
is assisted by using Edmodo media. The syntax 
of SFAE learning consists of six steps, namely: a. 
The teacher conveys the competencies and 
learning objectives to be achieved, b. The teacher 
demonstrates or presents the material, c. Provide 
opportunities for students to explain, d. The 
teacher concludes ideas or opinions from 
students, e. The teacher explains all the material 
presented at that time, f. The teacher closes the 
lesson (Setiawan et al., 2017). The steps in SFAE 
learning help students to improve their problem 
solving skills. Based on Ni'mah (2020) the steps 
in the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
learning model help students understand and 
solve problems given by the teacher, so that 
students' problem solving abilities increase. The 
increase in the problem solving ability of 
students in this study was seen from the results 



 
 

 
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16 
 

of the pretest and posttest scores, then after being 
analyzed it was found that the problem solving 
abilities of the experimental class students 
experienced an increase and the increase 
experienced was higher when compared to the 
control class. 

These results are supported by poster 
assignments given to students. After carrying 
out learning with Student Facilitator and 
Explaining, students are asked to make posters 
about environmental pollution and how to 
overcome environmental pollution problems. 
The poster assignment given can help 
researchers find out whether there is an increase 
in the problem solving ability of students in 
addition to using test instruments. There are 15 
students who have collected poster assignments, 
the results show that the average student poster 
score is 87.5 with a very good category. The 
poster assignment is supporting data that there 
is indeed an increase in the problem solving 
ability of students. The problem solving ability of 
students can not only be seen from the results of 
students' cognitive test scores, but can be seen 
from the creativity of students in conveying 
ideas and opinions about solutions to 
environmental pollution through posters made. 
The creativity of students in making posters for 
solutions to environmental pollution is part of an 
indicator of problem solving abilities, namely 
planning for problem solving. Posters made by 
students show that students have good problem 
solving skills, students make posters with 
attractive designs and solutions to 
environmental pollution are also conveyed in 
good sentences and messages about 
environmental pollution solutions can be 
accepted by readers in this case, namely 
researcher. 

 

The effectiveness of the Student Facilitator and 
Explaining model assisted by Edmodo is 
supported by the results of the student response 
questionnaire after carrying out learning with 
the Edmodo-assisted Student Facilitator and 
Explaining model. The student response 
questionnaire consists of 10 questions with 
positive aspects questions and negative aspects 
questions with the same assessment weight for 
each criterion. The results of the student 
response questionnaire can be seen in Table 4.7 
which shows that the student response 
questionnaire shows an average percentage of 
88.4%. Based on the results of the questionnaire 
analysis of student responses regarding learning 

with the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
model assisted by Edmodo on environmental 
pollution material, students gave very good 
responses to the learning that had been carried 
out, students felt learning was more interesting, 
made students more active in learning, the 
learning carried out is not difficult to 
understand, and learning uses interesting media 
and helps in the implementation of learning. It 
can be concluded that the learning carried out 
using the Student Facilitator and Explaining 
model assisted by Edmodo provides a very good 
response for students in an effort to improve 
students' problem solving abilities. 
 
 

CONCLUSION 

 

Based on the results of this study regarding 
the effectiveness of the Edmodo-assisted Student 
Facilitator and Explaining learning model, it can 
be concluded: 

The Student Facilitator and Explaining 
learning model assisted by Edmodo has an effect 
on increasing the problem solving ability of class 
VII students regarding environmental pollution 
material. The Student Facilitator and Explaining 
learning model assisted by Edmodo is effective 
in improving students' problem solving abilities, 
because learning with Student Facilitator and 
Explaining learning model assisted by Edmodo 
showed a positive effect with an increase in the 
moderate criteria of the results of problem 
solving ability of students and showed a 
significant difference to the problem solving 
ability results of students in control classes that 
learning with direct learning.  

 Based on the results of this study regarding 
the effectiveness of the Edmodo-assisted Student 
Facilitator and Explaining learning model. 
Suggestions for the future are: 

The results of this study can be used as a 
reference for teachers to be able to develop 
innovative online learning by innovating the 
learning model, and the learning media. It is 
necessary to do other research that can improve 
the problem solving ability of students by using 
other learning models and do other research on 
integrating learning models with appropriate 
learning media to improve students' problem 
solving abilities. 

 
 

 
 



 
 

 
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