Case Study #3: Universitas Muhammadiyah, Malang, East Java: Improving Academic Quality by Developing an Active Learning System

• In Event: How Indonesian Higher Education Institutions Use Action Research to Lead Change

Abstract

This project aimed to transform UMM’s predominantly teacher-centered learning (TCL) approach to a student-centered learning (SCL) approach to increase student independence, improve academic quality, and decrease degree completion time.

International research documents that the level of student educational engagement positively correlates with timely graduation rates. Based on an extensive literature review, the ARP team hypothesized that a change from TCL to SCL at the classroom level within study programs could improve student engagement at UMM.

After seeking buy-in from administrators, lecturers and staff for this pedagogy shift, the team held focus-group discussions on implications of SCL. National experts conducted workshops introducing lecturers to the concepts, design, and implementation of SCL, with other workshops covering use of quality assurance instruments. Based on workshop feedback, the team worked with the Academic Quality Control Commission to design methods, instruments and standard operating procedures to monitor the new practices. Lecturers redesigned their courses and began to use SCL in their classrooms. Finally, outcomes were intensely evaluated through surveys, lecture and syllabi review, analysis of mid-term exams, student questionnaires, and lecturer peer evaluations.

UMM demonstrated improvements in the quality of student learning engagement, with increased student involvement in the learning process, more group work and hands on learning, and less lecturing. The majority of lecturers expressed satisfaction with SCL learning methods in the first semester. Learning outcomes, demonstrated through mid-term exam results, showed dramatic improvement.

Author

• Ir Damat, Universitas Muhammadiyah, Malang, East Java