Assessment and feedback practices in the EFL classroom

The present study explored the implementation of Language classroom assessment and feedback within the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. This research was conducted using a qualitative research design, and the obtained data were analyzed descriptively. Data were collected by conducting direct classroom observation using observation checklists and in-depth interviews with the three professional English instructors using an observation guide. The data were transcribed and coded according to their categories. The findings of the study indicated that the students learning progress were assessed through a short question-answer and completion test. Verbal feedback was merely provided by the teachers, and feedback was given only occasionally. The teacher hardly provided any follow-up action in order to modify their way of teaching. Consequently, there was a slow, gradual improvement of the students' learning achievement. Therefore, teachers were recommended to utilize various classroom language assessments to assess the students' learning. The teachers should provide both verbal and written feedback for their students to enhance their achievement continually

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN EFL CLASSROOM PRACTICES

This study investigated the challenges and opportunities of formative assessment in EFL classes. It made use of qualitative research design by using indepth interviews to collect the required data. Three teachers and three students were involved as research participants in this study and they were intensively interviewed to get valid and reliable data regarding their understanding of formative assessment and the follow up actions they took after implementing formative assessment. The results of this study showed that the English teachers were found not to take appropriate follow up actions due to their low understanding of formative assessment. The teachers’ understanding could influence their ability in deciding the actions. This study indicates that EFL teachers need urgent further intensive training on the appropriate implementation of formative assessment and how follow up actions should be integrated into classroom practices Permalink/DOI: dx.doi.org/10.17977/um015v45i12017p050

Brainstorming as an Effective Learning Strategy to Promote Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Abstract: Brainstorming as an Effective Learning Strategy to Promote Students’ Critical Thinking Skills. Objectives: This study investigates the brainstorming strategy employed by teachers in the classroom to enhance students’ critical thinking skills. Methods: This study employed a qualitative research approach conducted in a senior high school consisting of 30 teachers and 4 teachers were selected as the research participants. The data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The data were analyzed descriptively to establish valid and reliable findings. Findings: This study found that teachers intensively used the brainstorming method in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills by asking various challenging questions to arouse students’ critical skills. Conclusions: the Findings of this study revealed the importance of conducting brainstorming strategies during the learning activities. Moreover, this study implies teachers should utilize the brainstorming method more intensively to develop students’ critical thinking skills. Keywords: brainstorming, learning strategy, critical thinking skills. Abstrak: Brainstorming sebagai strategi pembelajaran efektif untuk meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir kritis. Tujuan: Penelitian ini mengkaji strategi brainstorming yang digunakan oleh guru di kelas untuk meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa. Metode: Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif yang dilakukan di sebuah sekolah menengah atas yang terdiri dari 30 guru dan 4 guru terpilih sebagai partisipan penelitian. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan wawancara semi terstruktur dan observasi kelas. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif untuk menetapkan temuan yang valid dan reliabel. Temuan: Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa guru secara intensif menggunakan metode brainstorming dalam meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa dengan mengajukan berbagai pertanyaan yang menantang untuk meningkatkan keterampilan kritis siswa. Kesimpulan: Temuan penelitian ini mengungkap pentingnya melakukan metode brainstorming selama kegiatan pembelajaran. Selain itu, penelitian ini menyiratkan guru harus memanfaatkan metode brainstorming lebih intensif untuk mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa. Kata kunci: brainstorming, strategi pembelajaran, keterampilan berpikir kritis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v12.i2.20224

TEACHERS OF 21ST CENTURY: TEACHERS’ ROLES IN INNOVATING LEARNING STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES

One of the indicators of teacher professional competence is being able to utilize technology in the learning process to answer the challenges of the times. This is in accordance with the competence of 21st-century teachers, namely having good skills and digital literacy. In other words, teachers' competence from time to time must continuously be upgraded to keep up with the development. This study used qualitative research design to investigate the teachers’ roles in innovating learning strategies. The study found that teachers are required to use various skills in developing teaching and learning strategies to meet the demand of the students to equip them with sufficient knowledge and skills to survive in this new millennium era. Furthermore, this study highlights that teachers should continually upgrade their knowledge and ability to conduct learning activities professionall

Effective Strategies Employed by School Teachers to Promote Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Abstract: Developing students’ critical thinking skill is highly important nowadays to provide students’ skills in encountering various challenges in their life. Objectives: This study investigates the strategies employed by teachers during the teaching and learning processes to promote students’ critical skills. Methods: This study used a qualitative research approach conducted in a senior high school consisting of 50 teachers and 5 teachers were selected as the participants of this research. The data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews and the data were analyzed descriptively. Findings: This study found several strategies employed by the teachers in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills. Conclusions: The Findings of this study provide implications to enrich the body of knowledge relevant to the theories concerning effective strategies to develop students’ critical thinking skills.Keywords: learning strategy, senior high school teachers, critical thinking skills.Abstrak: Pengembangan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa saat ini sangat penting untuk membekali siswa dalam menghadapi berbagai tantangan dalam hidupnya. Tujuan: Studi ini mengkaji strategi yang digunakan oleh guru selama proses belajar mengajar untuk meningkatkan keterampilan kritis siswa. Metode: Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif yang dilakukan di sebuah sekolah menengah atas yang terdiri dari 50 guru dan 5 guru terpilih sebagai partisipan penelitian ini. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan wawancara semi terstruktur dan data dianalisis secara deskriptif. Temuan: Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa beberapa strategi digunakan oleh guru dalam meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa. Kesimpulan: Temuan penelitian ini memberikan implikasi untuk memperkaya khazanah pengetahuan yang relevan dengan teori-teori tentang strategi yang efektif untuk mengembangkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa.Kata kunci: strategi pembelajaran, guru SMA, keterampilan berpikir kritis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v12.i2.20220

Alignment of English as a foreign language teachers’ understanding of classroom assessment practices

A comprehensive understanding of classroom assessment is essential for improving students’ learning and teachers’ professionalism. This study was conducted to gain better information about teachers’ understanding of classroom assessment compared to their classroom practices. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were employed to collect the data. The collected data were then analyzed comprehensively using comparative and argumentative methods. The results were then presented descriptively to establish the findings. The findings showed that some teachers’ classroom assessment practices were consistent with their assessment understanding, while others were inconsistent. The findings suggest that different contextual factors may influence teachers’ classroom practices. Furthermore, English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers need to be re-trained on comprehending the influencing contextual factors to utilize their understanding of assessment in the classroom effectively

The Influence of Breastfeeding On Nutritional Status, and the Frequency of Children Experience Tropical Diseases during the Covid 19 Pandemic in Samarinda

Warm temperatures, humidity, and high rainfall are factors in the high incidence of infectious diseases in the tropics. This condition is certainly risky for children's health. COVID-19 pandemic also adds to the risk of endangering the health of children in the golden period. In the golden period, infants and toddlers need adequate nutritional intake. Many factors hinder the provision of nutrition (ASI), one of which is the COVID 19 pandemic. Inadequate nutritional intake can lead to suboptimal growth and development of children, decreased immunity. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of breastfeeding on nutritional status, and the frequency of children experiencing tropical diseases during the COVID 19 pandemic. Methods: Quantitative study with a categorical analytic research design. with a cross-sectional analytic approach. The sampling technique used a purposive sampling technique and the data collection tool was a questionnaire to measure the frequency of illness. Nutritional status measurement used anthropometric assessment. Conclusion: there is a significant relationship between breastfeeding and nutritional status and the frequency of illness in children. Recomedations:Therefore it is Important to campaign more intensively on the importance of breastfeeding for children's nutritional adequacy

Learning loss: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the students’ psychosocial condition

Learning loss occurs when students lose knowledge and skills generally or specifically or there is an academic impediment due to prolonged gaps or the discontinuation of the educational process. This study aims to examine learning loss during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and its psychological impact on students. Qualitative research was carried out comprehensively in schools in Indonesia by conducting interviews with teachers who were selected as the subjects of this research. The results of this study indicated that there was a learning loss during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and had an impact on students' psychological conditions in learning. Therefore, this research implies that teachers must consider the conditions of student learning loss and always try to find the right solution to improve students' abilities to reduce the learning loss

EFL students’ writing interactions through weblog and self-assessment

Weblog is powerful learning media that triggered interaction and self-assessment among students. This study indicates that weblog is very useful tool of learning to be used in developing the students’ active writing interaction as well self-assessment. The students could continuously improve their writing skill through studying and sharing their knowledge through weblog and all comments posted by their friends are useful for the improvement of their writing skill. This study adds to the understanding of the use weblog in teaching English, especially in teaching writing. It is also intriguing to the students as they are well exposed to technology in their daily lives. The online environment of weblogs really offers a learning place that encourages collaboration and analytical thinking towards providing constructive comments on their writing assignments necessary for students to improve their writing skill

APLIKASI MEJA BUNDAR DALAM PENGEMBANGAN KEAHLIAN MENULIS PADA SISWA KELAS X SMA NEGERI 5 DENPASAR TAHUN 2012/2013

Abstrak: Kemampuan menulis dianggap sebagai kemampuan penting yang perlu ditingkatkan. Hal tersebut dapat dicapai melalui pelaksanaan round table technique. Penelitian tindakan kelas ini utamanya dilaksanakan untuk menunjukkan apakah round table technique dapat digunakan dalam meningkatkan kemampuan menulis mahasiswa. Subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas sepuluh SMA Negeri 5 Denpasar tahun Akademik 2012/2013. Berdasarkan hasil prates, yang dilaksanakan pada pra siklus, menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan siswa dalam menulis paragraf dikategorikan kurang yaitu 61.97. Selanjutnya penelitian tindakan kelas dilakukan dengan pelaksanaan round table technique dalam rencana dua siklus. Berdasarkan teknik yang dilaksanakan, terdapat peningkatan yang signifikan pada kemampuan menulis paragraf deskriptif siswa, dimana hal tersebut meningkat dari kurang menjadi baik, yaitu 68.09 pada siklus I dan 76,29 pada siklus II.Terlebih lagi, penelitian ini dapat memberikan peningkatan kemampuan menulis deskriptif paragraf siswa melalui pelaksanaan teknik tersebut. Kesimpulannya, penelitian tindakan kelas ini menunjukkan bahwa round table technique dapat meningkatkan kemampuan menulis siswa kelas sepuluh SMA Negeri 5 Denpasar. Terlebih lagi teknik yang dilaksanakan juga direspon positif oleh subjek penelitian yaitu siswa kelas sepuluh SMA Negeri 5 Denpasar tahun akademik 2012/2013. Kata kunci: pelaksanaan, round table technique, dan kemampuan menuli