How to Integrate Character Education in Science Learning?
Dindin Nasrudin, Chaerul Rochman, Ara Hidayat, and Rahayu Kariadinata
UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Jl. AH. Nasution 105 Bandung, West Java Indonesia
Keywords: ADDIE Model, character education, science learning.
Abstract: Character education plays an important role in our lives. The Government of Indonesia is promoting the
strengthening of character education in all aspects, including in education. Each teacher is expected to
integrate character education in every subject, including science subjects. However, the findings show that
science teachers have difficulty in integrating these two things. The purpose of this paper is to express the
pattern of character education integration in science learning. The research method used is the development
research by using ADDIE model training design (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and
Evaluation). Based on the results of the application of the ADDIE model in the field, the results show (1) the
science teacher's understanding of the basic concepts of character education (2) the training materials required
by science teachers and (3) pattern of character education in science learning. The study concludes that the
integration of character education in science learning is practiced in the context of relevant learning, planned
in instructional design and assessed through appropriate assessment instruments. The results of this study are
expected to be applied in science learning in the classrooms.
1 INTRODUCTION
There is a mutual agreement that every school should
be responsible and contribute to moral development
and character formation of its students (Nucci et al,
2014). Lickona et al (2002) offers 11 principles of
applying character education in schools. One is the
principle of character education that must be
integrated into the academic curriculum, including
learning activities in the classroom and all
interactions. Teachers as an important component that
determines the success of the learning process in the
classroom should be able to integrate character
education on each subject. The development of
teacher professionalism becomes a necessity because
the teacher is one of the determinants of character
education success in school (Berkowitz and Me'inda,
2003).
One pattern of professional development of
teachers is through training (Villegas, 2003;
Kennedy, 2005). The importance of character
education training for teachers has been suggested by
Berkowitz (1999). He unravels six barriers to
character education training, one of which is the
limited perception of time to provide character
education when becoming a teacher candidate.
Lickona et al (1993) mention that teachers almost
never receive good character education training while
being a student or when already a teacher. On the
other hand, character education delivered by a trained
teacher is more effective than external experts
(Berkowitz, Bier, and Schaeffer, 2003). As a result to
this, the training of character education for teachers in
schools becomes important.
There is a pattern shifting the type of teacher
training from traditional patterns to modern patterns
(Avalos, 2011). Little (1993) suggests four models of
teacher development, i.e., teacher collaboration and
other networks, subject matter associations,
collaboration targeted at school reform, and special
institutes and centers. This study aims to describe the
process of training science teachers in integrating
character education with science learning conducted
by a team of university lecturers and Science teacher
association.
2 METHODS
This research is categorized as developmental
research type 2, namely the application of a model
(Richey and Clein, 2005). The selected model is the
Nasrudin, D., Rochman, C., Hidayat, A. and Kariadinata, R.
How to Integrate Character Education in Science Learning?.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 1, pages 215-219
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
215

ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development,
Implementation, and Evaluation) model adapted from
Aldoobie (2015).
Data and information were obtained through the
following research steps (1) analyzing and discussing
the problem. Based on the request of the teacher
association, the issues are the application of character
education in science learning (2) conducting FGDs
among researchers and MGMP organizers (4)
analyzing participants' needs through initial
competency tests and in-depth interviews (5)
designing objectives and materials training (6)
conducting training and (7) evaluating training.
The subjects of this study were teachers who were
members of science teacher association in Cirebon.
There were 18 teachers with different background:
physics, chemistry and biology teachers.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 The Profile of Science Teacher
Knowledge on Basic Concepts of
Character Education
The initial profile of the trainees is an important part
of the Analysis phase of the ADDIE model to
determine the next step. The initial data on teacher's
understanding of the concept and application of
character education in science learning is obtained
through the comprehension test instrument which is
done through Authentic Assessment Based on
Teaching and Learning Trajectory (AABTLT)
technique. AABTLT is an evaluation technique
designed to see how effective the learning process is.
AABTLT was prepared by the researcher by
considering five basic frameworks of authentic
assessment of Gulikers, Bastiaens, and Kirschner,
(2004).
Before giving the materials, the instructor first
arranged the order of the teaching design (teaching
trajectory) along with the competence that must be
possessed by the participants. During the lesson, the
instructor provided questions to measure participants'
understanding. The level of participants
'understanding was seen from the authentic answers
given by the participants in the form of the
participants' learning sequence (learning trajectory).
Learning trajectory illustrates the development of
participants' thinking in conceptual understanding
(Ebby and Petit, 2017)
The instrument of AABTLT includes the basic
concepts of character education that include the
reasons for the importance of character education,
definitions, functions and objectives of character
education, the pillars of character education, the
characteristics and role of teachers in character
education.
The results of data analysis show that the average
value of science teachers' understanding of the
concept of character education was 64.22. This
average indicates that the science teacher's
understanding of the concept of character education
was quite good. Figure 1 shows scores for each
teacher.
Figure 1: Science Teacher Understanding Profile of
Character Education Concepts.
Meanwhile, based on the analysis of lesson plans
made by teachers, the researchers concluded that
teachers have not been able to create a science-
learning design that integrates with character
education. This finding is an important part of the
process of Training Need Analysis (TNA) as well as
the basis for the need for training (Salas and Cannon,
2001). Based on in-depth interviews on some
teachers, it is found that they still had difficulty in
creating lesson plans that implement character
education in science learning. There are some
obstacles, such as seeking the context of learning,
especially in the preliminary phase, associating the
values of characters in science learning and making
the assessment instrument.
3.2 Training Design and Material
Good and effective training design is a training that
shows flexibility, variety, accessibility, creativity,
and cost effectiveness (Hansen, 2006). An important
part in designing training design is the needs
assessment analysis (Roberson, Kulik, and Pepper,
2003). Once the training needs are identified, the next
step is to determine the training materials that can
facilitate the training program participants in
achieving the expected goals or competencies
(Personal, 2014).
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•Every object is built of atoms
•atom is made of a very small and dense
positively charge nucleus containing
protons and neutrons, surrounded by
much- less massive orbiting negatively
charged elctrons
•Every object is built of atoms
•atom is made of a very small and dense
positively charge nucleus containing
protons and neutrons, surrounded by
much- less massive orbiting negatively
charged elctrons
Concept
•Respect
•Fairness
•Citizenship
•Caring
•Respect
•Fairness
•Citizenship
•Caring
character
•Burning houses of
worship
•Inter-tribal dispute
•cases of persecution
etc.
•Burning houses of
worship
•Inter-tribal dispute
•cases of persecution
etc.
phenomena
Based on the findings and training needs
analysis, the competencies that science teachers
must possess in integrating character education in
learning include: (1) finding the right context to lead
learners to the discovery of the desired character (2)
creating the learning design (3) creating assessment
instruments and (4) teaching practice. These four
materials will be used as training materials in science
teacher training.
3.3 Training Implementation
Once the training needs through TNA were identified
and the training objectives along with the training
materials were formulated, the next step was the
implementation of the training. At this stage, the
accuracy of the methods used by the instructor greatly
determined the effectiveness of the training. The
method chosen was the method of giving examples.
The method of giving a real sample in training is
important (Roelle et al, 2017; Dyer et al., 2015;
Renkl, 2014; Gulwani, 2014). The method was used
starting from finding the right learning context, the
preparation of the lesson plan, the implementation of
learning to developing the assessment instruments.
The topic of science raised by researchers is the
material of atoms. The selection of this material
considers trainees who have different backgrounds.
This material is quite common and very useful for all
science teachers – physics, chemistry and biology.
Training materials on learning context were done
by expert skeleton concept maps from Novak (2010)
or brainstorming from Wilson (2013). The context of
learning in essence needed to be determined so that a
relationship or linkage between the concepts of
science, the desired character and the examples of
phenomena in everyday life can be easily identified.
These three components are interrelated and cannot
be separated. Teachers can find the context of
learning from anywhere, depending on the idea.
Figure 2 below illustrates an example of finding a
learning context on atomic matter.
Figure 2. Ways to find learning context.
Based on figure 2, when the teacher wants to get
the right context to teach the atomic concept
integrated with science learning, the teacher can start
from the concept of science to be taught, such as
atomic material: proton and electron. According to
the theory of modern atoms, every object is made up
of atoms. The atom consists of an atomic nucleus
containing a positively charged proton and neutron
that is neutral (uncharged) and surrounded by
negatively charged electrons (Knigt et al., 2007). For
selected characters such as respect, justice,
citizenship and caring, the teacher can take an
elaborated concept and interpreted according to the
appropriate character.
In the concept of atoms, every object including
humans is composed of a kind of "creature" whose
names are protons and electrons. It means that every
human being, whoever it is, from whatever tribe it
comes from, whatever its skin color, has the same
basic elements of protons and electrons. Therefore
there is no reason for each other to insult, condescend,
or abuse. Precisely the differences that exist in every
human being require them to know each other, to
love, to respect, and to care. This is a character that
can be grown through atomic theory. Furthermore,
How to Integrate Character Education in Science Learning?
217

the teacher will be easy to find the context of events
in daily life that contradict the existing values such as
cases of bullying, clashes between tribes, murder
cases etc.
Once the teacher can create a learning context, the
teacher will be easy to design the lesson. An example
of a brief learning design of the concept of atoms is
given in Table 1. The design of this lesson is
purposely made simple to show the location of atomic
learning integration (the concept of science) with
character education.
Table 1: The Design of Learning Atomic Materials
integrated with Character Education.
Steps
Activities
Opening
 Teacher explains learning objectives (as
per curriculum)
 Teachers recount recent events known
to students, such as crimes that are being
reported on television such as brawls
between villages, between tribes,
murders and so on. (learning context)
 Teacher asks questions about the cause
of the phenomenon (connect with the
character to be built)
 Teacher directs students to learning
Main Activities
 Teachers discuss the concept of atoms
according to the basic competencies in
the curriculum
 Teachers associate the concept of atoms
(the basic charge of every object:
protons and electrons) with the
phenomena displayed in the
introductory activity and the need for
students to have characters such as:
respect, justice, citizenship and caring
for others
 Teachers can explore other concepts
that are considered relevant
Closing
 The teacher briefly summarizes the
atomic theory
 Teacher gives "new meaning" to atomic
theory which has been learned with
character education
 Teacher asks students to reflect on the
learning that has been done
After successfully designing the lesson and being
able to implement it, the teacher is also expected to
make the assessment instrument. Examples of
questions that teachers can give to their students
about the context of atomic learning and character
education can be questions like this: Once you
understand that every object including humans is
composed of the same basic elements of protons and
electrons, how will your responses and attitudes to the
student's brawl phenomenon what happened in our
city? What effort can you make to prevent similar
events in the future? The above examples can be
inserted to the test instrument. Just like the concept of
assessment in general, the assessment of learning
must be thorough both cognitive, affective and
psychomotor.
After the training participants were able to
develop lesson plans and assessment instruments, the
next step was to provide examples of microteaching
learning practices followed up by coaching in
teaching practice in each school.
3.4 Feedback
After the training is completed, there was awareness
from science teachers that teaching character
education to students is not the responsibility of
religious teachers alone, but the responsibility of all
teachers. Moral values and norms are an inevitable
part of teaching from the concept of holistic learning
and greatly affect the well-being of students as a
whole, including academic success (Arthur, 2011).
Through training, teachers recognize that they must
be effective moral educators, who bring great lessons
with pedagogical techniques that maximize students'
interest, involvement, and learning (Lapsley and
Woodbury, 2016).
As a result, through the development of this
training design, there is an understanding that
character educators should be able to repackage the
information in an effective way so that it is easy to be
delivered in teacher training and easy when applied
into an educational policy (Walker, Roberts, and
Kristjánsson, 2015). The effort can be made through
the discovery of the relevant learning context
4 CONCLUSIONS
The main problem faced by science teachers related
to character education is the pattern of integration.
Through the application of the ADDIE model training
design initiated by science teacher association with
the university's lecturers team, it was concluded that
the pattern of integration of character education and
science subjects lies in the context of learning. By
using direct examples of brainstorming and expert
skeleton concept maps, relevant learning contexts can
be found and can be integrated from learning design,
learning implementation and learning evaluation.
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
218

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to thank the Research
Center of UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung for the
fund and facilities that have been given from the
research process until the publication of this paper.
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