10.30734 Peningkatan Kemampuan Analisis Ekonomi Mahasiswa melalui Metode Problem-Based Learning pada Materi Inflasi dan Pengangguran

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the application of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in enhancing students’ analytical skills regarding the issues of inflation and unemployment in Indonesia through the study of the Phillips Curve theory. The study employed a Classroom Action Research (CAR) design adapted from the Kemmis and McTaggart model, consisting of two cycles: planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The study was conducted with fourth-semester students in the Economics Education program at a private university in East Java. Data were collected through analytical essay tests, observations, documentation, interviews, and reflective questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive-comparative methods, while qualitative data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model. The results indicated that students’ average analytical skills increased from 49.6 in the pre-cycle stage to 65.2 in Cycle I and 80.3 in Cycle II. This improvement was accompanied by developments in students’ ability to interpret economic data, connect theoretical concepts with empirical phenomena, and construct more critical arguments regarding the relationship between inflation and unemployment. Improving learning through the provision of analytical guidelines, probing questions, and structured guidance also supports the process of developing these skills. This study concludes that the implementation of PBL has the potential to strengthen students’ economic analysis skills through learning that integrates authentic problems, empirical data, and critical evaluation of economic theory. These findings have implications for the development of macroeconomics instruction oriented toward analytical reasoning and data literacy, while taking into account the limitations of the action research design, which was conducted in a single class without a comparison group.