Analysis of grade V students’ learning needs: readiness, interest, and learning profile

Abstract

Differentiated instruction within the Merdeka Curriculum requires teachers to understand students’ learning needs as a foundation for designing student-centered instruction. However, systematic mapping of students’ learning needs remains limited in Indonesian primary schools, including in Grade 5, where students demonstrate increasingly diverse levels of academic readiness, interests, and learning preferences. This study aimed to analyze the learning needs of fifth-grade students based on the dimensions of readiness, interest, and learning profile as a foundation for designing differentiated instruction. The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach conducted at SD Negeri 2 Ternate City. From a population of 33 fifth-grade students, three participants were selected through purposive sampling to represent low, moderate, and high academic ability levels. Data were collected using a learning needs questionnaire consisting of items covering the dimensions of readiness, interest, and learning profile, measured using a five-point Likert scale. The data were analyzed descriptively through mean score calculations and qualitative interpretation. The findings indicate that students’ learning needs were heterogeneous across all three dimensions. The interest dimension obtained the highest mean score (4.12), followed by learning profile (3.86), while readiness had the lowest mean score (3.44). Students with moderate academic ability demonstrated the highest scores across all three dimensions, whereas students with high academic ability did not necessarily exhibit the greatest learning needs. These findings indicate that academic ability alone cannot serve as the sole basis for determining instructional strategies. Therefore, systematic assessment of students’ learning needs is essential for developing differentiated instruction that is adaptive, effective, and responsive to the characteristics of each learner.