Integrating Local Wisdom of Penti: A Novel Strategy to Enhance Students' Creative Thinking Skills in Biology Education

Introduction: Penti, a traditional Manggarai ceremony, embodies gratitude, reconciliation, and values of cooperation and mutual assistance. These values inspire the PENTI learning model, designed to create contextual learning experiences and improve students' creative thinking skills. This study investigates the model's effectiveness in enhancing high school students' creative thinking.Method: This study employed a pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design, involving 337 tenth- grade students in Manggarai Barat, Indonesia. Participants were divided into experimental (PENTI), positive control (STAD), and negative control (conventional) groups. Creative thinking skills were assessed using an essay test rubric based on relevant indicators, with data analyzed via ANCOVA at a 0.05 significance level.Results: The results showed that the PENTI model was significantly more effective than STAD and conventional learning in improving students' creative thinking skills. The LSD test further confirmed significant differences among the groups. Students in the PENTI class achieved an average score of 85.92, which was higher than those in the other groups.Conclusion: The PENTI learning model, which integrates the values of cooperation and mutual assistance from the Penti traditional ceremony, has proven to be effective in enhancing students' creative thinking skills. This model provides contextual and meaningful learning experiences, making it a recommended innovative approach for modern education.