THE ASI⁶ LEARNING MODEL: Pedagogical Innovation and Best Practices in Elementary Social Studies Education

Abstract

Social Studies learning at the elementary school level requires pedagogical innovation that goes beyond the mastery of information by providing students with opportunities to understand social realities through experience, exploration, interaction, reconstruction of understanding, and reflection. This study aims to explore the ASI⁶ Learning Model as a pedagogical innovation and best practice in elementary Social Studies education, with a focus on the model’s concepts and characteristics, its classroom implementation, the pedagogical processes that emerge, and the best practices identified during its application. The study employed a qualitative approach with a case study design at SDN Kalianget Barat III, Kalianget District, Sumenep Regency, involving 11 students. Data were collected through observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation, and were analyzed interactively through data reduction, data display, coding, categorization, conclusion drawing, and verification, supported by source and technique triangulation. The findings show that ASI⁶ functions as a pedagogical architecture that organizes learning through six instructional stages: Orientation, Exploration, Collaboration, Modification, Clarification, and Evaluation. Its implementation shifts Social Studies learning from knowledge transmission toward a more active and student-centered social learning experience. The pedagogical process that emerged reflects a transformation of understanding from social experience, information discovery, and perspective exchange to reconstruction of understanding, conceptual reinforcement, and social reflection. The best practice of ASI⁶ lies in the interconnectedness of its instructional stages, particularly the Modification–Clarification mechanism, which provides students with opportunities to review and improve their understanding before receiving conceptual reinforcement from the teacher. These findings indicate that ASI⁶ has the potential to serve as an exploratory, collaborative, reconstructive, and reflective pedagogical innovation in Social Studies education. This study is limited to a single classroom context with a small number of participants; therefore, future research is recommended to examine ASI⁶ through multiple-case studies, more diverse educational settings, and longitudinal or mixed-methods designs to strengthen the consistency and sustainability of the findings.