UNS – Biology Education Program Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta hold a Webinar on Let’s explore Our Seas and Oceans: Introducing Marine Education at School, Sunday (5/7/2020), inviting three speakers Hung-Shan Lee, Ph.D. from Heng-Shan Elementary School of New Taipei City, Rachma Indriyani, L.LM. from the Faculty of Law UNS, and Murni Ramli, Ed.D. from Biology Education Program UNS. The webinar was attended by 330 participants from various provinces in Indonesia and also attended by the Head of Biology Education Program FKIP UNS, Dr. Muzzazinah. This event aims to introduce the importance of marine education to the academic community and the public.
Hung-Shan Lee in his speech, Best Practices Marine Education in the Classroom, explained the marine education in his class which implemented various activities to provide direct experience for students. The activities are experiment, observation, reading, take students to markets, beaches and museums, and bring in marine experts. He also explained about the research carried out in teaching about marine animals, especially sharks in its class.
“I try to change student’s misconceptions on the shark. The first step that needs to be done is to check for student’s misconceptions, then designing the research, and reading literature. I also invited experts to explain the ecology, biology, and fisheries conservation,” he explained.
In the research, Lee used shark as a specimen, shark toys, and shark skeletons. This research was applied to students entering fourth grade, and then repeated when they entered 6th grade. The result of the research shows that assessing prior knowledge before the learning process is a vital step before starting active learning. Besides that, providing hands-on activities and opportunities for students to explore the materials through reading materials and internet searches are also appropriate class activities.
The second material was delivered by Rachma Indriyani, L.LM. discussed the sea zone boundaries and marine law. These boundaries are important for a country because it involves the habitat inside, which is not limited to various fish species but also provides a foundation of community life. Sea zone boundaries also limit marine activities, security, and marine activities which can take place, security, and peace between nations. Indonesia, for example, has set a boundary in the Exclusive Economic Zone (Zona Ekonomi Eksklusif – ZEE) which covers 200 miles from the coastline.
The last material delivered by Murni Ramli Ed.D. was on marine education curriculum in Taiwan and Indonesia. She described the result of curriculum research that she conducted during her Taiwan Fellowship 2018 in National Taiwan Normal University. In Indonesia, marine education was mentioned explicitly in the curriculum of 2013. There are many topics that teachers can develop as marine education, for example, the topics around life sciences or biology.
At higher education, marine education can be implemented through the development of Marine Program and Marine Education program in several universities, while at the school level, the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs has initiated the Indonesian Coast School in 2019. Murni also added that marine education in Taiwan has been clearly defined and has been designed in the science curriculum.
“Marine education is not a course, but as one of the four learning issues that must be included in the science course. The three learning issues are gender equality education, human rights education, and environmental education. There are 5 topics in marine education in Taiwan, namely marine leisure, marine culture, marine society, marine science and technology, and marine resource and sustainability,” she concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti