MAKASSAR, SOUTH SULAWESI – Some 80 students from UIN Alauddin Makassar, drawn from 8 study programs, including Islamic Education, physics, mathematics, Indonesian, management of Islamic education, and English, received training from USAID PRIORITAS in active learning methodology in one of the university's conference halls (31/7). For three days they were trained in active learning (the implementation of the PAKEM approach), information skills, high-level questioning, management of the classroom and of students' work, and other subjects. They also did teaching simulations in front of their friends, and went out to teach in some of UIN Alauddin's partner madrasah, MTs Madani and MI Madani.
Kurnia, a seventh semester Islamic education student said the training model of the USAID PRIORITAS program was very important to her. "I practiced teaching using active learning. It turned out that the students were enthusiastic, creative and actively involved in the learning," she said.
Meanwhile, another student, Intan, felt she had benefitted from a lot of new experiences with the methods that she had used. "Apparently, there are still many that I do not know, and I need more practice," she said.
"In the management of the Islamic education study program, students practiced how to manage a class using the PAKEM approach: when students work in groups and when they work individually; and how to create a worksheet that encourages students to think critically. Previously, they had not had a lot of practice in these things," said Siti Syamsudduha Mpd, a lecturer at UIN Alauddin Makassar who was a facilitator of the training. The training was part of the preparation for the Teaching Practicum Program (PPL) for students who will go out into the madrasah for two months. (Ajb)