19 research outputs found
Beating Barriers to Formative Assessment in a Testing-Oriented Nation
No full textAbstract
Indonesia has a been a testing-oriented country since its inception. Yet, over the past decade, assessment policies in Indonesia have gradually strengthened their emphasis on formative assessment. In general, Indonesian teachers’ understanding of formative assessment is still relatively modest; in fact, some teachers still consider formative assessment to be challenging, if not impossible. Nevertheless, others have embraced the concept and have managed to overcome the barriers of large classes, limited time, and the long-standing culture of high-stakes testing. This article aims to provide examples of good practice in formative assessment in ELT. We present the results of a multiple case study, involving eight ELT senior high school teachers representing various learning contexts in Indonesia. Drawing on data from interviews and classroom observations, the study revealed that these teachers recognized the barriers in implementing formative assessment deriving from limited time and large classes, yet they were able to overcome these barriers by using teaching modifications and technological tools as solutions to applying formative assessment. This study highlights the pivotal role of teachers’ assessment literacy to enhance and reap the benefits from formative assessment.
Abstrak
Indonesia telah menjadi negara yang berorientasi pada ujian sejak awal berdirinya. Tetapi, selama dekade terakhir, kebijakan penilaian di Indonesia secara bertahap semakin menekankan pada penilaian formatif. Secara umum, pemahaman guru-guru Indonesia tentang penilaian formatif masih relatif terbatas; faktanya, beberapa guru masih menganggap penilaian formatif sebagai hal yang menantang, bahkan tidak mungkin dilakukan. Meskipun demikian, beberapa guru telah menerima konsep ini dan berhasil mengatasi hambatan seperti kelas yang besar, waktu yang terbatas, dan budaya ujian berisiko tinggi yang telah berlangsung lama. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk memberikan contoh praktik baik dalam penilaian formatif dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris. Kami menyajikan hasil studi multi-kasus, yang melibatkan delapan guru Bahasa Inggris sekolah menengah atas yang mewakili berbagai konteks pembelajaran di Indonesia. Berdasarkan data dari wawancara dan observasi kelas, studi ini mengungkapkan bahwa para guru ini menyadari hambatan dalam menerapkan penilaian formatif yang berasal dari waktu yang terbatas dan kelas yang besar, namun mereka mampu mengatasi hambatan tersebut dengan menggunakan modifikasi pengajaran dan alat teknologi sebagai solusi untuk menerapkan penilaian formatif. Studi ini menyoroti peran penting literasi penilaian guru untuk meningkatkan dan memetik manfaat dari penilaian formatif.
How to Cite: Defianty, D., Wilson, K. (2024). Beating Barriers to Formative Assessment in a Testing-Oriented Nation. TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 11(1), 1-12. doi:10.15408/tjems.v11i1. 40391
The practice of formative assessment by EFL teachers in secondary high schools in Indonesia
No full textLANGUAGE ASSESSMENT FOR YOUNG LEARNERS :A Descriptive Study of How Teachers at Three Elementary Schools in Eastern Part of Bandung Assess Their 4th Grade Students
No full textThe purpose of introducing English as foreign language to young learners is to stimulate learners’ interest in studying the language. Assessment should support this purpose instead of working against it. However, some studies reveal that only few English teachers comprehend the principles of teaching English to young learners. Consequently, if teachers were lack of competence in teaching young learners, it can be assumed that they are too lack of competence in assessing young learners.The objective of this study is to investigate how teachers carried out language assessment for young learners. Specifically, the aims of this study are; to identify teachers’ understanding of assessment in terms of purpose, aspect, and feedback of assessment; to identify techniques employed by teachers in assessing young learners; and to identify difficulties encountered by teachers during assessment process. This study is designed as qualitative and descriptive study. The research conducted in three elementary in eastern part of Bandung. Those elementary schools were chosen based on the assumption that they share similar features with many other public elementary schools. The features shared are: teachers must deal with a great number of students and English teachers come from various backgrounds (English and non-English background). Therefore English teachers from each elementary school are the participants of the research. The data for this study were compiled through questionnaire, interview and observation.This study reveals that respondents were well-informed of the benefit of assessment. Nevertheless, they were lack of understanding of how assessment should be carried out. Assessments conducted by the respondents were categorized as traditional assessment which is considered to be counter productive for young learners’ language development. Difficulties encountered by respondents during assessment process were mainly derived from a great number of students in their classroom
EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING IN INDONESIA: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR GREATER LEARNER AUTONOMY
No full textThe sudden switch to learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted teachers across the world. In Indonesia, schools were closed from early March 2020 onwards. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project that investigated how Indonesian teachers of English responded to the challenges of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) and whether ERT would lead to greater learner autonomy. Ten teachers responded to an invitation to participate in focus groups and individual interviews on Zoom and to contribute examples of their lesson plans from the lockdown period. All teachers found that WhatsApp was the most efficient and effective platform for remote teaching, allowing synchronous and asynchronous sharing of audio, video and text-based materials. Despite the challenges of poor connectivity and lack of face-to-face contact, the teachers were able to continue involving their students actively in integrated, communicative tasks that pushed them to extend their communicative competence. Unexpectedly, however, the move to online teaching did not herald a shift towards greater learner autonomy. The data from this research shows that English language teaching in Indonesia is still firmly teacher-controlled despite the affordances of online learning
The critical challenge for ELT in Indonesia: Overcoming barriers in fostering critical thinking in testing-oriented countries
No full textIn recent years, the Indonesian government has put greater emphasis on promoting critical thinking in the education system, including the notion of critical thinking in national examinations, curriculum, and graduate outcomes for school education. Nevertheless, as in many testing-oriented countries, fostering critical thinking in the Indonesian context can be challenging, as the long-standing culture of testing, in which every answer is either correct or not, contradicts the concept of critical thinking. This paper focuses on identifying challenges in promoting critical thinking in English Language Teaching, especially in testing-oriented countries. The paper argues that critical thinking can be effectively fostered in students if teachers have a profound understanding of the notion. Demonstrating how critical thinking can be incorporated into teachers’ daily pedagogical activities and encouraging teachers to conduct collaborative action research about the teaching of critical thinking are suggested as two productive ways to boost teachers’ understanding of the notion of critical thinking
The Application of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Higher Education in Indonesia
No full textAbstract
This study aims to identify the impacts of applying project-based learning in English as Spesicic Purposes (ESP) classes in Islamic higher education. This research was held in the department of Family Law, Shariah and Law, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. The study conducted a qualitative approach to explore students learning process. A semi-structured interview, class observation, and a test were used to collect the data of 40 student participants. The interpretation process and coding were conducted to analyse the data. The finding revealed ESP through PBL succeed to improve 87.5% of students in their English achievement. The PBL process also encouraged students in learning discipline and motivated them to solve the learning problems.
Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi dampak penerapan pembelajaran berbasis proyek di kelas English as Spesicic Purposes (ESP) di perguruan tinggi Islam. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di Jurusan Hukum Keluarga, Syariah dan Hukum, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan pendekatan kualitatif untuk mengeksplorasi proses belajar siswa. Wawancara semi terstruktur, observasi kelas, dan tes digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data dari 40 siswa peserta. Proses interpretasi dan pengkodean dilakukan untuk menganalisis data. Temuan tersebut mengungkapkan ESP melalui PBL berhasil meningkatkan 87,5% siswa dalam prestasi bahasa Inggris mereka. Proses PBL juga mendorong siswa dalam kedisiplinan belajar dan memotivasi mereka untuk memecahkan masalah pembelajaran
Embedding Automated Writing Evaluation in Providing Formative Feedback
No full textThe pivotal role of feedback in improving students’ writing competence has been undeniable, yet there has not been any agreement about how feedback can improve learning. The advancement of technology has opened opportunities to give feedback facilitated by technology, commonly referred to as Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE). AWE-based applications help produce effective feedback mostly because they are friendly. Several studies have documented that several AWE-based applications can potentially improve students’ writing skills. Nevertheless, effective feedback constitutes more than timely feedback. AWE-based applications cannot attain other factors, such as ongoing and goal-oriented. In other words, an AWE-based application is merely a form of feedback, such as comments and scores. Therefore, improving students’ writing competence cannot rely solely on AWE-based applications. The AWE-based application should be framed in the process of feedback provision that aims to improve learning, known as formative feedback. This paper elaborates on how AWE can be framed in formative feedback. The concept of formative feedback and the writing process will be discussed thoroughly before discussing how AWE tools can be embedded in formative feedback during the writing process
ENHANCING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY THROUGH INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE
No full textThe study aims at enhancing students’ speaking ability through interview technique. This study is conducted on 26 students of the eighth-grade of SMPN 9 Tangerang Selatan in Academic Year 2018/2019. This study uses Classroom Action Research as the research method which was designed by Kurt Lewin. The study is conducted in two cycles where each cycle consists of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The data are obtained through tests (pre-test, post-test 1, post-test 2). The result of the study shows that there is an enhancement in students’ speaking ability. The students’ enhancement is proved by their speaking test result which improves from test to test. In the pre-test, there are only 11.53% or 3 students who could pass the Minimum Mastery Criterion (KKM), and the mean score is 51.53. Then, in the post-test 1 in Cycle 1, there are 19.23% or 5 students who pass the KKM, and the mean score is 60. Therefore, there is a little enhancement from the pre-test to post-test 1. Finally, in post-test 2, it shows that the enhancement is quite large that there are 80.76% or 21 students who can pass the KKM, and the mean score is 77.07. Thus, this indicates that it has met the criterion of success that at least 75% of students must get the score above the KK
Muslim Women Leadership: The Catalytic Style in Developing School Members' Psychological Well-Being Amidst Global Pandemic
No full textThis article investigates how women principals practice their leadership to address the global pandemic challenges encountered by Islamic-based junior high schools or madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs). The study examines the key behaviors and practices school leaders, particularly women, implement to address the global pandemic challenges. Some challenges in the global pandemic, including learning management, developing an online curriculum, school facilities, teacher performance, and school members' psychological well-being, were indicated to hinder the learning effectiveness in MTs. The MTs principals, the top-level leaders in the institutions, play a critical role in addressing these issues. This research utilized a multiple case study approach and collected qualitative data from six MTs in Bogor, Tangerang, and Bekasi. An in-depth interview with 18 participants was conducted to investigate the women's principal leadership practices. The findings revealed that principals displayed a catalytic leadership approach through an agent of change where school members and stakeholders are invited to change the curriculum system and performance to respond to the challenges of the global pandemic. The results of this study also indicate that most female principals prioritize the well-being of teachers and students in facing learning challenges in the pandemic era
