The Application of Green Chemistry in Chemistry Learning

Anak Agung Istri Brahmani Prita Dewi

anak.agung.istri.7 @undiksha.ac.id
Chemistry Education Study Program
Mathematics and Natural Sciences Faculty
Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Singaraja, Bali
ABSTRACT
The purpose of writing this article is to describe and explain the impact of green chemistry
application towards creative thinking skills and creative attitude in chemistry learning. The
method used is literature study,that used five national journals about the application of green
chemistry that published in 2014 to 2018. The influence of the application of green chemistry on
creative thinking skills and creative attitude in general produces a good impact or change for
students, especially in learning chemistry. It can be concluded that the application of green
chemistry can give a good impact and can be applied in schools.
Keywords: application, green chemistry, chemistry learning
INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is a country that has abundant natural resources and can be utilized in various
fields, both in the fields of economy, education, social life, and culture. The natural resources
found in Indonesia are very diverse, namely there are plants that have many benefits, endemic
animals, and beautiful natural scenery. This can make natural resources an object of education,
especially in the field of education, which aims to apply the use of natural resources to the
chemistry learning process at school. Based on these, the application of natural resources into the
learning process is expected to be in accordance with the 2013 curriculum. In general, 2013
curriculum emphasizes the pedagogic dimension that encourage students to be skilled in thinking
and working scientifically so that they can realize learning objectives which include attitudes,
knowledge, and skills. But unfortunately chemistry learning has not fully mandated the 2013
curriculum where chemistry learning still emphasizes the cognitive aspect only,this can cause
students not to be creative in thinking, behaving, and skills so that in chemistry learning it is not
student centered, but still student centered (Rosita et al.,2014).

In general, chemistry learning has not fully emphasized scientific work which includes
hands on and minds on (Firman and Widodo in Rosita et al., 2014). Minds on means building the
concept of a material, while hands on means applying concepts. These two aspects are very
much needed by students when carrying out chemistry learning which aims to understand,
analyze, and implement a chemical material. When applying scientific work, students should
develop and apply practical skills that have implications for natural chemicals or apply the
principles of green chemistry. Green chemistry is the use of chemicals properly and wisely
which aims to save or conserve the environment (Rosita et al., 2014). Green chemistry can be
used as the primary means to design and improve the learning process (Auliah et al., 2017). This
can be implemented into chemistry learning in the form of practicum. Chemistry learning that is
oriented towards green chemistry can recommend students to be directly involved or practice
directly by using environmentally friendly materials. This application is also expected to be able
to develop and improve aspects of critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to behave in
implementing the 2013 curriculum in the chemistry learning process.

The purpose of this article is to describe and explain the application of green chemistry in
chemistry learning. This article also give the results of previous research studies that examined
changes in the form of student satisfaction levels in applying green chemistry. It aims to
informing readers about application green chemistry in chemistry learning.

METHODS

The data collection technique used in this article is a literature study. The author used five
national journals about the application of green chemistry that published in 2014 to 2018.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Result

The application of green chemistry in chemistry learning based on the journals that have
been reviewed, the application of green chemistry in chemistry learning already exists in various
or varied applications. It aims to use natural materials and the use of recyclable goods as
instruments in chemistry practicum. In addition, the application of green chemistry aims to hone
the skills of students and is not only teacher-centered. Therefore, in the results and discussion
discuss the application of green chemistry in chemistry learning, both from middle high school
until senior high school.
 Based on the results of research conducted by Adhi et al., 2018 regarding green
chemistry, the object of which is class VIII students at SMPN 2 Juwana. Students are given a
video about making shrimp paste from Juwana, Pati. Responses related to interest in providing
knowledge about making addictive substances or making shrimp paste from class VIII students
produced a good response. Most of the students stated that the application of green chemistry in
learning addictive substances can be continued and improved. In addition, two teachers stated
that giving green chemistry material in the form of videos is a very appropriate strategy and can
be applied again in the future.

Discussion

The teacher provided a video about the process of making shrimp paste, which is related
to addictive substance material. The video of the shrimp paste making process is related to the
additive material, which shows production in the traditional way using conventional and
environmentally friendly tools. In the video provided, students learn that most of the people in
Juwana work as shrimp paste business owners who use natural additives that are environmentally
friendly. In addition, there are texts and audios that trigger students to be able to connect the
scientific process of production with green chemistry. After watching the video, teacher told
students to discuss, interview their parents, and interview shrimp paste producers. It aims to
encourage students to be able to increase curiosity, making important questions related to green
chemistry, and expected to be able to provide logical answers. In addition, in the disscusion
process students are asked to find the meaning, types, chemical formulas, properties, content,
functions, and dangers of these additives for humans. Based on the results of the discussion,
students can understand the concept and apply it in everyday life. Therefore, the provision of
videos related to green chemistry aims to appreciate, preserve local wisdom, and increase
understanding of the application of green chemistry especially in chemistry learning.

Rosita et al., 2014 researches about development of problem based learning tools oriented
to green chemistry in salt hydrolysis material to develop soft conservation skills of high school
students. The research results obtained are the improvement of the conservation soft skills of
students with high criteria is 35.48% while those with moderate criteria is 64.52%. There are six
conservation soft skills assessed in this project, namely caring for the environment, love the
environment, responsibility, polite, objective, and honest. Problem based learning tools green
chemistry-oriented learning has been able to develop conservation soft skills in high school
students. Observations of the six conservation soft skills there are five conservation soft skills
(love the environment,care for the environment, responsibility, objective and honest) which fall
into the very good category while polite attitude skills with good category. Politeness has not
been developed properly in research or the most difficult developed, this can be seen from the
results of observations. Soft skills of polite conservation are not developed on the concept of salt
hydrolysis because it requires practice questions so that students get used to it as is the case with
the sub-concept of calculating the pH of hydrolyzed salt. Good manners require independent
practice, as does learning about calculating the pH of hydrolysis of salts. It means that politeness
must be consistently trained in order to get maximum results. Based on this statement, students
gave a good response to the green chemistry oriented Project Based Learning (PBL) model
because students could learn chemistry and be connected with the environment. This is in
accordance with Juntenen's (2013) research, which aims to improve environmental quality and
sustainable literacy education through PBL.

Conclusion

The conclusion of this article is the application of green chemistry in chemistry learning can give
good impact on creative thinking skills and creative attitude when applied in chemistry learning.

Refereces

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Video to Improve Students’ Understanding of Green Chemistry in Integrated Science
Subject. Journal of Innovative Science Education. Vol.7, No.1, 36-44.
Nuswowati,M.,and Taufik,M. (2015). Developing Creative Thinking Skills and Creative Attitude
Through Problem Based Green Vision Chemistry Environment Learning. Indonesian
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Rosita,A., Sudarmin., and P. Marwoto. (2014). Perangkat Pembelajaran Problem Based Learning
Berorientasi Green Chemistry Materi Hidrolisis Garam Untuk Mengembangkan Soft
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