The Effect of Team Games Tournament Cooperative Learning Model with Snakes and Ladders Media on Critical Thinking Skills of Elementary School Students

Critical thinking is a fundamental 21st-century competency that enables students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information rather than passively absorbing knowledge. In elementary education, the development of critical thinking skills remains a persistent challenge, particularly in Indonesian primary schools where teacher-centered instructional approaches continue to dominate classroom practice. This study investigates the effect of the Team Games Tournament (TGT) cooperative learning model, integrated with snakes and ladders media, on the critical thinking skills of fourth-grade elementary school students in Aceh, Indonesia. Using a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design, 20 fourth-grade students were selected as the sample through total sampling. Data were collected through descriptive essay tests aligned with critical thinking indicators, including analysis, problem-solving, and drawing conclusions. The research instrument demonstrated a high reliability coefficient of 0.982. Results showed that students' mean score increased from 60.75 (pretest) to 71.65 (posttest). A paired samples t-test yielded a t-value of -108.214 with a significance level of 0.000 (p < 0.05), indicating a statistically significant improvement. Findings suggest that the integration of TGT cooperative learning with game-based media effectively enhances critical thinking development among elementary students. This study contributes to the limited body of research on game-integrated cooperative learning models targeting critical thinking in primary education contexts.