This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license Berkala Ilmiah Pendidikan Fisika ISSN : 2337-604X (print) ISSN : 2549-2764 (online) Vol 9 No 2 2021 https://ppjp.ulm.ac.id/journal/index.php/bipf page 155-173 Meta-Analysis of Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Improvement on Physics Learning Nurul Hikmah and Mukhayyarotin Niswati Rodliyatul Jauhariyah Undergraduate Programme of Physics Education, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia nurul.17030184022@mhs.unesa.ac.id DOI:10.20527/bipf.v9i2.10585 Received: 29 April 2021 Accepted: 30 June 2021 Published: 30 June 2021 Abstract Critical-thinking skill is one of the 21 st -century abilities that students must have. This study aimed to analyze the critical thinking abilities to improve physics learning that was reviewed: overall, learning model, education level, subject matter, and the media used. This research method used meta-analysis. The meta-analysis research stage was to determine the research topic, decide data selection criteria, search for data, visualize VOSviewer, classify data information, calculate the effect size, and then analyze the data and conclude. The data collection technique used secondary data from previous research of 18 scientific publication articles. The data analysis technique used the effect size. This meta-analysis concluded that critical-thinking skills significantly influence physics learning, with an average effect size of 1.33 and an influence of 90%. Critical thinking skills in learning physics can significantly affect vocational education with the cooperative-learning time-token type model, using the subject of static fluid, and assisted by real learning media using a puzzle. Keywords: A Meta-Analysis; Critical-Thinking Skills; Physics Learning © 2021 Berkala Ilmiah Pendidikan Fisika How to cite: Hikmah, N. & Jauhariyah, M. N. R. (2021). Meta-analysis of students’ critical thinking skills improvement on physics learning. Berkala Ilmiah Pendidikan Fisika, 9(2), 155-173. INTRODUCTION In this 21 st century, as science and technology are rapidly developing, everybody will be expected to grow into a global competitor. Humans must be superior human resources (A. Setiawan et al., 2019). Education is fundamentally a strategic effort to improve human resources' capabilities in the face of 21 st - century problems (Nisa et al., 2018). Trilling and Hood's list of 21st-century skills contains life and career skills, communication, media, and learning skills, as well as critical thinking and innovation skills (Trilling & Hood, 1999). These skills are learned through a formal and informal learning process. Physics is a branch of natural science that consists of knowledge (products), ways of thinking, ways of working (attitudes) and methods of carrying out scientific research whose studies are limited to the real world and aims to provide an understanding of natural phenomena (Nadiya et al., 2016). In physics learning, students do not learn the finished product or the result; instead, they should engage in specific experimental experiments that will contribute to the product development process. When studying physics, students memorize the content and comprehend and apply it (Diani et al., 2020). Therefore, learning physics needs