Singaraja- Learning media is one of the needs in the implementation of education, including students with disabilities, one of whom is mentally retarded. In line with that, students of the University of Education of Ganesha (Undiksha) are trying to create an innovative learning media called Soulmath.
Students who joined one team consisted of Ni Luh Puspa Pratiwi from the PGSD Study Program, Putu Satya Dadi Saputra from the Bachelor of Accounting study program, Kadek Gustia Loka from the Bachelor of Accounting Study Program, Luh Nityaswari Laba from the English Language Education, and Kadek Nova Suadnyana from History Education Study Program.
Team Leader, Puspa Pratiwi, Wednesday (3/8/2022) explained Soulmath is a learning medium in the form of a pop-up book to improve the ability to recognize and understand flat material for children with special needs, namely mild mental retardation. This learning media implements ethnomathematics, namely culture-based mathematics learning. “The culture that we promote is Balinese tailoring which fulfills the concept of flat wake,” she explained.
In addition, in this learning media, there is a QR Code that can be scanned in which there are learning videos and audio about the Balinese sewing in question. “The reason for combining the concept of flat shape material with Balinese culture in the form of mejejaitan is to implement character education. Then character education can be implemented through culture,” she said.
The character that you want to instill through this learning media, he continued, is the religious character that is manifested through dazed, the character of mutual cooperation is shown through the implementation of group learning media, and the character of integrity is manifested through respect for Balinese culture. “This learning media is also to foster independence. The target is mentally retarded children so that they are able to recognize flat shapes on their own without the help of others,” she explained.
The emergence of the idea to make this learning media cannot be separated from findings in the field, namely students with mild mental retardation experience difficulties in analyzing flat shapes and formulating flat shapes.
This learning media is also included in an international level competition, namely the World Science, Environment, and Engineering Competition (WSEEC) which will take place in July 2022 at the University of Indonesia. As a result, he won a gold medal in the Mathematics category, the IYSA Semi-Grand Award, and the Doza Srekja Macedonia Special Award. This achievement could not be separated from the role of supervisor, Drs. Made Suarjana, M.Pd.
Puspa Pratiwi hopes that this learning media can continue to be developed and can be applied to improve the quality of learning, especially for mentally retarded students. (hms)
