PROJECT BASED LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION AT SEKOLAH INDONESIA SINGAPURA

Introduction

Curriculum 2013 has promoted some teaching and learning models. One of them is Project Based Learning (PBL). Project Based Learning is a teaching approach that enables students to work in a collaboration. By using PBL, students will go through a learning experience that will be remembered on a longer time and not easy to be forgotten. This learning model brings students to implement 21st century skills, skills that needed to face 21st century. The 21st century skills that can be practiced by project based learning such as problem solver, innovation, effective communication, collaboration, critical thinking and ICT literacy.

Background

 The price of vegetables in Singapore is more expensive than that of in other South East Asia country. The price of 1 kilogram of mustard (kai lan) is around 4 -5 dollar Singapore (the price at fair price), meanwhile it is about Rp. 5.000 10.000 in Indonesia and 40 bath in Thailand. The price of a kilogram of tomato 5 6 dollar Singapore, while in Indonesia it is about Rp. 6.000 10.000, and 30 bath in Thailand. This happen because Singapore imports some fruits and vegetables from neighbor country such as Malaysia, China, Thailand and Indonesia. This condition influences vegetables from, their answer is from market. They do not know that it is from plantation. Even they do not know the form of tomato plant, whether it is a bush, under the ground or a tree. It is a kind of problem if they do not know the origin of something they find and eat everyday. To overcome this fact, Sekolah Indonesia Singapore chooses the topic on planting hydroponics vegetables at green house as the theme of project based learning.

Implementation of Project Based Learning at Sekolah Indonesia Singapore involved several subjects and topics on different grade. The subjects that involved are Biology for students grade 12, Physics for students grade 11, Chemist for students grade 10, and English for students grade 10. There are some objectives of Project Based Learning in Sekolah Indonesia Singapore as follows: 1. Students will get to know to the growth of plants (vegetables and fruits) and their benefit. 2. Students will have opportunity to create water installation and cooling system for green house by using related theory. 3. Students will know the correct chemical composition that needed by vegetables. 4. Students will have opportunity to promote the benefit of vegetables.

The scope of this project are limited only for grade 12, 11 and 10 students for Biology, Physics, Chemist and English. The subject matters for this project can be described as follows: 1. Physics Focused on Fluid Dynamics and Pascal Law for grade XI. Students are responsible to create and design water treatment installation and cooling system. Those installation must be based on related theory. 2. Biology Focused on seeding and plant growth for grade XII. Students are responsible do prepare the best seeding and planting method. Students are able to do several experiments for the best seeds. 3. Chemist Focused on solution needed by plant and its growth for grade X. Students are responsible to prepare nutrition solution needed by plants. The correct calculation of solution will effect to the plant 4. English Focused on promoting the project and also benefit of vegetables for our health. Students are responsible to create brochure in English that promote the project especially the benefit of vegetables for our health

About the program

The implementation of Project Based Learning at Sekolah Indonesia Singapura is conducted by SEAMEO-SEAMOLEC on a program named "SEA Edunet 2.0.: E-Collaborative Learning Using Project Based Learning Model." The objectives of this program are as follow.  

A.  Try out on certain distance learning model associated with 21st century skill development.
B.  Feasibility study in e-collaborative learning model among schools in Southeast Asia to develop culture tolerance between countries.

Meanwhile, this program hopefully also will give some benefits which are
A.  Strengthen synergy and collaboration opportunities among local schools and also regional schools.
B.  Enable teachers and students to interact, share ideas and best practices, local and also regional.
C.  Fostering 21st century skills through online collaborative learning.

SEA Edunet 2.0 program is implemented into 3 activities. The first is online activity, an online course on e-collaborative learning for teachers. This activity is conducted for activity is face-to-face workshop on e-collaborative learning for teachers. A three days workshop conducted after online course, held by all SILN and local school participated on SEA Edunet 2.0. The presenters of workshop are SEAMOLEC staffs and expert teacher. The third activity is implementation of e-collaborative learning. Schools implement e-collaborative learning using Project Based Learning for one until four months. SEAMOLEC provides assistant in this phase by sending an expert teacher for one month in each country and also by provide online tutor available via collaborative learning platform. 

Twenty First Century Skills 

Development of twenty first century education is marked with the increasing usage on information and Communication Technology. The fast growing information is spread easily around the world in a minute facilitated by sophisticated technology. Due to this condition, education has to make a break through in order to be up dated.  

There some new paradigm on 21st century education. The following are new paradigm on 21st century education: 

a.  From teacher centered into students centered. 

b.  From one way communication into interactive communication. 

c.  From a single classroom into network classroom. 

d.  Resource of study is not only from teacher, library but also web quest. 

e.  Teach students to have higher order thinking skills 

Furthermore, twenty first century education is also train the students to have twenty first century skills which are: 

a.  Problem solver 

b.  Collaboration 

c.  Effective communication 

d.  Critical thinking 

e.  Innovation 

f.  Independent 

g.  IT literate.

Project Based Learning 

Project Based Learning is a kind of teaching and learning model based on instruction that involves students to do investigations of a problem. The final activity of PBL is an authentic product. By making a project, students will do a series of real activities that make students in active roles such as problem solver, decision maker, investigator, critical remember the lesson in longer time (90 % after 2 weeks) if they do the real thing (Peter Sheals on Depdiknas : 2002) The picture shows Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning, as concept of learning by doing can be depicted as follows. 

By Project Based Learning, students will work together and try to communicate with other. Communication is needed when solving the problem.  They will communicate with their peers, teachers even professional that having concern to the project. The resources of the project may vary from the things surrounding area or a web quest. 

When students communicate and collaborate with their peers, it will broaden students insight.  Vygotsky believe that  social interaction is very important on learning and development. There are two basic elements on Knowledgeable Other (MKO) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Normally, teachers or instructors take part on MKO, while students interaction with their peer can develop the Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development is the distance/gap between what a learner has already master (the actual development level) and what he or she can achieve when provided with educational support  (potential development) (Vygotsky : 1978). This picture shows the concept of ZPD. 

Project based learning will also help students understand the lesson by using inquiry learning. A review of research about PBL concludes that such projects on PBL are focused on questions or problems that "drive students to encounter (and struggle with) the central concepts and principles of a discipline" (Thomas, 2000). More over, the main activities of a project involve inquiry and the construction of new knowledge by the student (Thomas, 2000). Students typically have a choice when it comes to designing their project, which allows them to pursue their interests and engage their curiosity. In the course of answering their own questions, students may investigate topics not identified by the teacher as learning goals. 

There are some benefits on implementation of PBL in the classroom. By using PBL, it will Increase attendance, growth in self-reliance, and improved attitudes toward learning towards students. Further more, students involved in projects taking greater responsibility for their own learning than during more traditional classroom activities. PBL will also give opportunities for students to develop complex skills, such as higher-order thinking, problem-solving, collaborating, and communicating (twenty firs century skills). Further more, PBL creates an access to a broader range of learning opportunities in the classroom, providing a strategy for engaging culturally diverse learners 

Implementation of E-Collaborative Learning Using Project Based Learning at Sekolah Indonesia Singapura

The activities of E-Collaborative Learning Using Project Based Learning is started with online activity on edmodo since august 2013. Teachers are following online course on Project Based Learning conducted by SEAMOLEC on edmodo classroom name SEAMOLEC conduct an online course on PBL.

Face-to-face workshop at Sekolah Indonesis Singapura was conducted on August 21-24,  2013. It was involving 18 teachers from Sekolah Indonesia Singapura as participants hen devided into 1 group for English, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. The material of face to face workshop including Pembelajaran Abad 21, basic concept of Project Based Learning, Planning the PBL, edmodo classroom, digibook. The presenter on this workshop were stafs from SEAMOLEC and Expert Teacher of SEA Edunet 2.0.

The workshop was ended with teleconference among all participants of SEAEdunet 2.0 on Saturday, August 24, 2013. On the teleconference, each school should present their Project Idea of PBL. While Sekolah Indonesia Singapura presented the idea on planting hydroponic vegetables on green house, presented by Biology teacher, Miss Emmalia Suryani, S.Pd.  The video presentation can be seen from youtube link

The presentation file can be downloaded from this link

 The implementation of PBL at Sekolah Indonesia Singapore, teachers have created a project plan. The idea of this project is from the real condition that happen in Singapore. The following table is the project plan for PBL at Sekolah Indonesia Singapore.

Name of Project	:	Empowering Green House for Better Life
Project Idea	:	Revitalize green house by planting  hydroponic  vegetables
Description	:	Students work together to revitalize the green house and plant some vegetables by using hydroponics method
Objective	:	Students will get to know to the growth of plants (vegetables and fruits) and their benefit
Background	:	1. Most Students in Sekolah Indonesia Singapore do not know more about plant and how to plant 2. limited area for planting in Singapore 3. Temperature in Singapore is not suitable for panting 4. Singapore imported vegetables and fruit from other country
Duration	:	1 – 6 months
Project Lesson	:	Biology, Physics, Chemist, English
Grade	:	X, XI science, XII Science
Driving Questions	:	1. How much is the price in Indonesia? 2. How much is the price in Singapore? 3. Why is the price of vegetables in Singapore expensive? 4. How can we produce our own vegetables in Singapore? 5. How to overcome this problem 6. What about the condition of farming (vegetables) in other countries?
Content Standard to be taught	:	Students will be able to analyze the growth and development of plant Students will be able to analyze dynamic fluid and thermodynamic Students will be able to analyze nutrition needed by plants Students will be able to promote the project
21st century skills to be taught and assessed	:	1. Critical thinking 2. Problem solver 3. Collaborative 4. Communication 5. IT Literacy
Major Product	:	Growing vegetables by using hydroponic system
Assesment	:	Quiz, Journal, activity, performance
Reflection methode	:	Discussion, observation
Timeline of activity
Week 1	:	Introductory meeting, project planning, find materials needed on project, socialization
Week 2	:	Seeding, germination, controlling progress, installation of hydroponic system
Week 3	:	Planting, treatment and observation
Week 4	:	Observation, reflection, assessment

Implementation on Week 1

Sekolah Indonesia Singapura already has a green house. But the condition is not so good to be called as green house. The green house was built around three years ago, but the function is not effective. There are only some flowers and medicine herbal plants on the green house. The real condition of green house can be seen from this link .

Here is the picture of green house.

Actually we had already created a project plan during the workshop. But we decided to hold a meeting to discus more on the project. The discussion on PBL was conducted on Tuesday, August 27, 2013. The video of Project Plan discussion can be seen from this link . On the discussion, we made sure all the things to be prepared, including the renovation of green house, and preparing the seeds. The result on this discussion, we finally decided that the lesson involved on the project were Biology, Physics, Chemist and English.

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013. We came to the next step. We invited some students from grade X, XI, and XII for project socialization. On this steps, teachers inform the students about the project plan and the schedule that we were going to do. Furthermore, teachers also informed the job description of each class. The video of project socialization can be seen from the following Youtube video link .

On Thursday, August 29 2013, we started doing our project. We did an experiment on seeding. On this Biology experiment, students grade XII planted some seeds on some media such as soil and sponge. They would find out the best seed that would grow better and become the sprout that would be planted. The following is Youtube video link. 

Implementation on Week 2

Based on the time line on week 2, the project was going to be started. We were going to plant the sprout and build the installation. On week 1, students grade XII on Biology class already did an experiment to find out the best way for seeding. On week 2, they made a journal for daily update of the sprout. As the result, finally they decided to plant new seeds because the result of the first experiment was not good. On Tuesday, September 3 2013, they planted new seeds on sponge. This is video link on their activity .

Meanwhile, students grade XI on Physics were ready to take a part on the project. Based on the job description, they had responsible to build hydroponic installation. They would build automatic water and cooling system installation. By using theory on Dynamic Fluids and Thermodynamics, students work together to build the system. Because the condition of green house that did not have any plastic or glass wall, they decided to use plastic wrap to close all the wall surrounding the green house. The following Youtube link is the video taken on Thursday, September 5, 2013 when students worked together to build water and cooling system. 

This picture shows the design on hydroponic water and cooling system created by students grade XI.

On Friday, September 6, 2013, based on the time schedule, it was planting time. Students of Grade X also participated on the project. They have responsible to supply the solution for hydroponic nutrition. To accomplish their responsibility, they worked together on Chemistry lesson. Meanwhile, students grade XII were ready for planting the sprouts. They collaborated to move the sprout from seeding form to the hydroponic installation. The vegetables were ready to grow on hydroponic system.

Implementation on Week 3

On week 3, students did not have to work hard anymore. It was time for hydroponic treatment. Everything was on set and run well. They just visited the green house once a day and checked the growth of vegetables. The following video link informs how the water system works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J71SwnfVcA4&feature=youtu.be

Implementation on Week 4

On week 4, it is observation and assessment time. The project team would observe the activity had been done. Teachers also would do a series of assessment and observation. Each teacher had their own method of assessment, but there was a similarity on assessing the students. Teachers assessed from students’ activity and creativity during the project based on their rubric of assessment.

During the observation, students found some weakness related to the project. There are some parts of water installation that must be rearrange and rechecked such as the size of vase was not same, bucket for nutrition was not big enough, water pump sometimes did not work. The electric installation must be fixed related to the security and electric shocks. Here is the link for video interview with students participated on the PBL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxXMkHuZUNY&feature=youtu.be .

E-Collaboration During The Project

To provide more information on the project, the project team created an e-collaboration on this project. E-collaboration on this project is in the form of edmodo classroom that invite local school in Jepara as partner. Project team has created edmodo classroom named “Project Based Learning SMA Jepara SI-Singapura.” The class code is “kwmx7b”. 

The following are the role of local partner : 

a. Supporting Information related to the Main Project

b. Give additional information especially related to vegetables and plants surrounding at students’ home.

c. Students make video description of vegetables and plants surrounding their house (English)

d. The best Students’ video is upload on YouTube to be shared to SIS students

As the result of e-collaboration, teachers at SMA Negeri 1 Welahan and SMA Negeri 1 Pecangaan took part as local partner. They held a project based learning that support main project in Singapore. Students from SMA Negeri 1 welahan created project on video description of vegetables around their home then uploaded on youtube and share on edmodo. Meanwhile, students from SMA Negeri 1 Pecangaan provided information by writing a report text about plants and fruits surrounding their home. Here are the video and text report written by students uploaded by students from Jepara.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzwdhWgV8XRKc29INXBCd1JUMnc/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzwdhWgV8XRKNksyZGNHOVBmVUE/edit?usp=sharing

Findings

On the implementation of e-collaborative learning using PBL at Sekolah Indonesia Singapura, the project team found some findings as follows. 

1. Most students enjoy studying on PBL.

2. Students got new learning experience by practicing real activity.

3. By PBL, students practiced twenty first century skill such as communication, collaboration, problem solver, critical thinking and ICT literacy.

4. Students used internet to search information related to project, such as how to make nutrition of hydroponics. 

5. Students used some social media during the project such as edmodo, facebook and twitter. 

6. Some problem found on the implementation of PBL:

a) Sometimes there were mis communications among the team.

b) Students need more time to focus on the project

c) There were some weakness on hydroponic system created by students, especially on water supply.

7. Suggestion to the problem:

a) School provide a special time for PBL

b) Communication skill must be build among the team

c) Improvement on water and cooling system.

Conclusion

From the implementation and observation of Project Based Learning at Sekolah Indonesia Singapura, it can be concluded that:

1. PBL runs well during the implementation although there were some problem.

2. PBL gave new learning experience to the students. They got a new way on teaching and learning process.

3. E-collaboration runs during the PBL, but the participant was only 2 local schools.

Suggestion

There are some suggestion related to the implementation of PBL at SIS:

1. PBL can be a good teaching and learning method that should be promoted more in the implementation.

2. Teacher and stakeholders should support the implementation of PBL at schools

3. E-collaboration with other schools should be built more, especially the participation of local school from Indonesia