The three of them collaborated with Prof. Dr. St. Budi Waluya, M.Si. from Universitas Negeri Semarang and Dr. Arnellis, M.Si. from Universitas Negeri Padang, along with a support team to contribute in overcoming learning loss, especially for high school students, in learning mathematics during the post-pandemic period.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, learning processes at various levels, from basic education to higher education around the world, have been disrupted. Most of the learning process is carried out online with various obstacles. Educational actors have implemented various innovations to overcome numerous arising problems. However, disruption has a major impact, especially on student learning outcomes. This phenomenon is commonly called learning loss. It has a long-term impact on students and is ultimately felt by society. One of these impacts is declining problem-solving skills and the ability to face various challenges of social life.

The PKM ITB team saw a gap between the demands and skills mastered by students at all levels of education.

"This service stems from observations of ITB TPB (Joint Preparation Stage) students. The input into TPB after the pandemic period has decreased in terms of the readiness of new students to face TPB lectures. It is suspected to be due to learning loss," said Drs. Yudi Soeharyadi, M.Si., Ph.D., during an interview on Tuesday (09/01/2024).

Oki Neswan, M.Sc., Ph.D., added that further research was conducted to find solutions to learning loss.

"We found many things in the field. Teachers have not heard of any program from the government to deal with this. We offer a system that can be applied to help teachers identify learning loss," he said.

The goal, he said, is to establish an implementable and sustainable system for teachers to recognize the level of learning loss and develop strategies to overcome it. With this system, teachers are expected to respond to existing phenomena with a scientific attitude and based on the study of data. Thus, teachers can more accurately plan and implement lessons to narrow the gap between students' learning process and outcomes due to learning loss.

"Because it is a system, this idea can apply not only to math. Teachers of other subjects such as physics, chemistry, or others can use it," he said.

This activity was conducted in three stages. First, the initial study and analysis of learning questionnaires during the pandemic and post-pandemic to mathematics teachers in Padang City and Semarang from March to May 2023.

Second, the system workshop to overcome learning loss. The activity was conducted in Padang City on a mixed basis, in collaboration with the Mathematics Study Program of Universitas Negeri Padang and the MGMP of High School Mathematics in Padang City, at SMAN 1 Padang, on July 17, 2023, and was attended by around 75 participants. This workshop was conducted in a hybrid format in Semarang City, in collaboration with the Mathematics Study Program of Universitas Negeri Semarang and the Semarang City High School Mathematics MGMP, at SMAN 3 Semarang, on July 26, 2023, and was attended by approximately 60 participants.

Third, a workshop on the preparation of system document preparation exercises to overcome learning loss.

Jalina Widjaja, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D., mentioned that during this third stage, teachers prepared materials for pretests, analyzed the pretest results, and developed lesson plans and teaching materials in response to the pretest analysis. This workshop is part of the simulation of the system implementation.

She mentioned that a number of teachers have tried implementing the system to overcome learning loss. "There are several teachers who have tested what we offer on a class scale. The response is positive. Students get better from the pretest and posttest," she said.

The lecturers from ITB's Analysis and Geometry Research Group hope that the system can bring positive impacts to students after teachers implement it in their lessons.

Reporter: M. Naufal Hafizh
Translator: Anggi Nurdiani (Manajemen, 2021)
Editor: Hanifa Juliana (Urban and Regional Planning, 2020)