The Effectiveness of Digital Comics Based on Sasak Folklore on the Reading Literacy and Independent Character of Grade IV Elementary School Students

Abstract

This research aims to produce a digital comic prototype based on Sasak folklore and the influence of its implementation on the reading literacy and independent character of fourth-grade elementary school students in Mataram City. This development research uses Thiagarajan's 4-D approach (Define, Design, Develop, Desiminate). The research location was in 5 elementary schools with 150 students and 7 teachers. Instrument testing by 12 experts and product testing by 9 experts. How to obtain data through literature review, observation, interviews, and tests. The validity test results on the material aspect were 0.950 in the very high category; the language aspect is 0.967 in the very high category; the media aspect is 0.893 in the very high category. The attractiveness test results for small group teachers were 96.90 in the very good category, while for the large group, it was 94.75 in the very good category. The attractiveness test results for students in the small group were 94.50 in the very good category, while the large group was 87.71 in the good category. The effectiveness test results are; (1) the implementation of digital comics based on Sasak folklore is effective in increasing reading literacy with a significance of 0.039 < 0.05 and an ES score of 0.88 in the high effectiveness category; (2) the implementation of digital comics based on Sasak folklore effectively increases independent character with a significance value of 0.001 < 0.05 with an ES value of 1.10 in the high effectiveness category; (3) the implementation of digital comics based on Sasak folklore is effective in increasing reading literacy and independent character at a significance of 0.001 < 0.05 and an ES of 0.84 in the high effectiveness category. Research findings show that digital comics equipped with summaries, synopses, and quizzes combined with Sasak folklore are very effective in improving reading literacy and the independent character of fourth-grade elementary school students in Mataram City.