Well loved and respected by her students and colleagues, Djuni Sefra, often referred as Bu Ef, showed genuine enthusiasm in education when she spoke of how she ended up joining Lomba Guru Berprestasi 2007 (Accomplished Teacher Competition), an annual national event whereby teachers showcase their competencies in professional, pedagogy, social and personality aspects.

 

“The idea behind it, is simply that I want my students to be motivated in learning,” she said.

 

Her concern was something every other teacher often worries about—a dull class with unenthusiastic students. A dreadful scene of lecturing a dry subject like Biology before a group of passive students prodded Bu Ef to wonder just what she should do to make her students thrilled about learning—and most importantly, to provoke her students to think.

 

“Many students score well in memorizing concepts. However, when it comes to concept understanding and application, they lack the ability to think critically,” she expressed.  “When I ask for concept definitions, the students will surely get full marks. But when I twist the question a bit, similar to questions in SPMB that require them to think, the students give up,” she added.

 

With a 2005 World Bank study showing Indonesian students lack high-order thinking skills compared to their counterparts in Japan, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand, a change in teaching method to induce a higher level of thinking is certainly needed.

 

Up for the challenge, Bu Ef came up with a class action research entitled “Enhancing students’ motivation to learn Biotechnology lessons by using Merry Go Round technique” which made her this year’s Lomba Guru Berprestasi Champion in West Sumatera Province.

 

The research paper was written based on the knowledge she gained from USP-sponsored Pedagogical Skills Training she participated earlier at Sampoerna Foundation Teacher Institute. A technique adapted from the popular Cooperative Learning method which emphasizes students to help each other and work together to maximize learning, the Merry Go Round technique breaks students into small groups of 5, posts open-ended analytical questions, and provides each student with opportunity to contribute an answer in clockwise manner within a set time limit.

 

                                                                                                       

Students wrote their answers on the posted cardboard and moved forward for the next questions in clock-wise manner

 

“It stirred so much enthusiasm among students and other teachers,” she said. “Students were scurrying to write their answers on cardboards posted on the wall. Even the most passive students turned active in group discussions!” She added.

 

The hype was contagious. The cardboard supply at SMAN 5 Bukittinggi soon emptied as other teachers followed suit seeing such magic in Bu Ef’s classes. The same method was applied in other classes such as Mathematics, Accounting and History.

 

The Merry Go Round and Cooperative learning method Bu Ef applied with 34 final-year high school students in Biotechnology lessons gained great results. Her students’ examination scores increased; from an average of 6.98 previously with the conventional one-way lecture style to higher average score of 8.63 after implementing the Merry Go Round teaching method in class.

 

“This method enables me to group students and assess them from various aspect, such as team work and ability to articulate ideas, instead of just concept understanding,” she explained. The cooperative learning method, according to Bu Ef, serves effectively to motivate every student to participate in learning, and encourages more critical thinking through open-ended questions.

 

“During the interview session, the judges were impressed with my research paper and said this is what we want in Padang!” she spoke of the unique teaching method. Despite being a first-timer in writing research paper, she easily got away with her humbleness, dedication and undying passion to teach and motivate students through her initiative to change the way she teach.

 

Being a strong contender for teaching innovations, Bu Ef couldn’t help but admit that many teachers were still reluctant to change. “They lack the creativity to differentiate various learning scenarios. They tend to generalize one teaching method for all, while actually it’s important to use different methods to meet different learning needs and types of students,” she revealed.

 

Known as a friendly teacher who’s finely attuned to her students, she shared her secret to winning students: “Kids nowadays love videogames and playstation. Of course they’d be more receptive to games for learning in class,” she laughed.