Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

Background: Endemic species such as Salacca sumatrana or Sidimpuan snake fruit faces serious threats due to land conversion and the lack of awareness of the younger generation regarding its conservation value, creating an urgency for the integration of education and conservation. In many Indonesian schools, science learning remains dominated by memorization and generic examples, so students rarely engage with authentic local biodiversity issues or conservation projects. This research aims to develop and test the feasibility of an E Module based on conservation projects that focuses on local potential, namely Salacca sumatrana (Salak Sidimpuan), to enhance the creativity of high school students. The research background is based on observations in four high schools in South Tapanuli that showed low student creativity in solving local conservation problems, as well as limited contextual and interactive teaching materials.

Methods: The study employed a Research and Development (R&D) design using the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) combined with a quasi-experimental approach involving four public high schools in South Tapanuli (N = 70 students) organized into control and experimental classes. Validity testing involved expert review by media, material, and language specialists, while practicality was examined through teacher and student responses in small- and large-scale trials. Effectiveness was evaluated using pretest–posttest measures of student creativity, analyzed with N-gain scores based on validated test items.

Results: The needs analysis showed that 86% of teachers indicated the need for an e-module based on local potential. Practicality testing produced an overall average score of 3.46 in the feasible category, with five of seven aspects—visual appearance, content quality, usability, readability, and assessment instruments—falling into the very feasible category. Student user trials on both small and large scales reinforced these findings, with feasibility percentages ranging from 82.20% to 92.69% in the very feasible category. Effectiveness tests showed creativity scores in the control class of 72.20% (small scale) and 72.40% (large scale), while the experimental class achieved 72.35% (small scale) and 86.40% (large scale). These findings indicate not only positive user perceptions of the module but also a substantial improvement in creativity when the conservation project–based e-module is fully implemented in the experimental class.

Conclusion: These results indicate that the developed conservation project–based Salacca sumatrana e-module is practical, highly feasible for classroom use, and has strong potential to improve students’ creativity. The module also strengthens students’ ecological literacy and local conservation awareness by positioning Salacca sumatrana as an authentic context for scientific inquiry and problem solving. Further studies are recommended to examine its effectiveness using broader experimental designs and to refine linguistic aspects and variations in creativity-oriented learning activities. In addition, future research may explore integration with other digital features (e.g. virtual field trips or augmented reality) and the development of teacher professional development programs to scale up the use of conservation-based e-modules in diverse school settings.