Changes in Learning Activity at MTsN Rengel At MTsN Rengel Tuban, students sit in small groups and no longer all face the blackboard. This is to help them to socialize and discuss things with their classmates. With this seating arrangement students are able to have more discussions with their peers. In each classroom, you can see students work on the wall. The work is not only for display, but also used as a learning resource. Students are involved in mounting the displays in their classrooms.

Meaningful Science Lesson Produce Fruitful Results

Rizka Abdurouf and Anik Sonalifatul have their own impression of the science lessons in their school. The 9th grade students of MTsN Berbek, Nganjuk could not hide their excitement when they got second and fourth places at Junior Secondary School Science Olympiad in Nganjuk, which was conducted at MAN Nganjuk on October 24, 2010. Their achievements are closely linked to the learning methodologies used at their school. Our teachers used to talk a lot and it was so boring. But now they give us practical work and experiments, said Rizka.

Since becoming a DBE3 partner school, MTsN Berbek has made significant changes, especially in the way teachers work. Now the teachers practice contextual teaching and learning (CTL) in the classrooms. Students sometimes learn outside the classrooms, making use of the environment surrounding the school. Students are also encouraged to discuss and discover their own concepts. We find the application of many science concepts in our daily life, but we often do not realize it.

Teachers, who have followed DBE3 training and workshop, have developed their own activities on contextual teaching and learning. They have also developed their own learning media. This proves that contextual teaching and learning is not expensive at all. Learning media can be developed from waste materials and objects found in the environment, such as tins, bottles, bamboo, wood, water, and many more similar things.

With these materials, it is easy and economical to make learning media. And these learning media help students in understanding the lessons more. They do not just learn the theory, but also prove the theory by doing experiments using learning media. The experiments are done in groups or individually.