Exploring Critical Thinking of Students with Intellectual Disabilities through Universal Design for Learning-Based Activity Sheets in Inclusive Chemistry Learning: A Qualitative Analysis

Critical thinking is essential in chemistry learning because students need to interpret chemical representations, analyze relationships, evaluate information, and draw conclusions. Students with intellectual disabilities may require structured support to access abstract chemical concepts and communicate their reasoning. This study aimed to describe the critical-thinking characteristics of students with intellectual disabilities while using universal design for learning (UDL)-based student activity sheets (LAPD) in an inclusive chemistry classroom, focusing on covalent compound nomenclature. A descriptive qualitative approach was used with two students with intellectual disabilities at a senior high school in Surabaya, Indonesia. Data were collected from students’ LAPD responses, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, comprising data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings showed that both students could interpret chemical information and identify some naming patterns, particularly when tasks included structured guidance. However, they had difficulty consistently relating the number of atoms to Greek prefixes, formulating complete naming rules, and explicitly explaining the reasoning behind their answers. Responses were generally more complete in structured tasks with answer choices and sentence frames than in open-ended questions. These findings suggest that varied representations and structured prompts may help students access chemical concepts and express their thinking; however, the study describes the experiences of two participants and does not establish that the LAPD caused improvements in critical thinking