The Implementation of Collaborative Learning in Pharmacognosy

Lessons

Suryati S.

and Elidahanum Husni

Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia

Keywords: Collaborative Learning, Pharmacognosy Lesson.

Abstract: Collaborative learning is an active learning method commonly applied in higher education. The objective of

this study is to investigate the effects of collaborative learning on fourth-semester students’ understanding of

Pharmacognosy lessons. A total of 83 students participated in this study. The students' performance was

assessed through formative and summative assessments. Formative assessment included assignments,

presentations, peer assessments, and midterm examination. Meanwhile, the summative assessment included

final examination. The finding revealed that students' performance improved in comparison with the previous

semester. The study will benefit lecturers and students to improve teaching and learning practices in a big

classroom.

1 INTRODUCTION

Pharmacognosy I is a compulsory subject for

Bachelor Degree students of Pharmacy study

program which provides knowledge about natural

sources (plants, animals, minerals) used as medicine,

crude drugs: nomenclature, production of crude drug,

carbohydrates; tannins, glycosides; essential oil;

resin, resin combination, fatty oil; alkaloid; including

the crude drug which produces the group of

compound. Every lecturer already has lecture

material in the form of hand-out and power point.

Teaching and learning strategy was the combination

of TCL (Teacher Centered Learning) and group

discussions. The assessment system as stated in the

teaching plan was Midterm Examination and the

Final Examination and group assignments. The

problems that arise is that student's final score, which

only focuses on the final assessment and does not take

into account the on-going assessment (formative

assessment) produces fewer students who score A and

more who score below B-.

Cooperative learning is a learning situation in

which two or more students work to complete a

common task (Siegel, 2005). The characteristics and

strategies in the implementation of collaborative

learning strategies in the classroom include positive

interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual

accountability, social skills, and group processing.

The social and psychological benefits of cooperative

learning methods have been well documented in the

past few decades (Brufee, 1999; Johnson and

Johnson, 1989; 1991). Therefore, the objective of this

study is to investigate the effects of collaborative

learning on fourth-semester students’ understanding

of Pharmacognosy lessons with regard to their final

gradings.

2 METHODS

2.1 Participants

The participants are 83 students enrolled in

Pharmacognosy I subject.

2.2 Procedure

This research conducted for three months from April

– June 2018 consisted of 3 steps; preparation,

implementation, and assessment. The activities were

conducted inside and outside of the classroom. The

research focused on resin, tannin and essential oils

lessons. For the first step, students were divided into

groups consisting of 10 – 11 members who appointed

a leader. Lecturer instructed students to construct a

list of questions (questionnaire) for interviewing

respondents. For the second step, every group

S., S. and Husni, E.

Implementation of Collaborative Learning in Pharmacognosy Lesson.

DOI: 10.5220/0008680100860088

In Improving Educational Quality Toward International Standard (ICED-QA 2018), pages 86-88

ISBN: 978-989-758-392-6

members had to interview the respondents about the

medicinal plants that they commonly use. Then, data

on medicinal plants were summarized in the table and

submitted to the lecturer. Lecturer and students

discussed their findings in the classroom. Every

group members was instructed to find the journal

related to the medicinal herbs in order to identify the

chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, and

their usage. Then, every group chose at least two

medicinal plants which contain resin, tannin and

essential oils. They summarized their finding and

made a powerpoint presentation.

Moreover, the appointed presenter and co-

presenter to present their findings. At the end of the

presentation session, lecturer summarized the topic.

Students were assessed through formative and

summative assessments. The presentation and

assignment were assessed by using a rubric. The

participation and teamwork of every group members

were assessed through a peer assessment rubric.

3 RESULT

The number of students enrolled in Pharmacognosy I

subject in the 2016/2017 Even Semester was 106

students, while in 2017/2018 Even Semester there

were 83 students. Figure 1. shows the comparison of

the distribution of marks between the 2016/2017

Even Semester and 2017/2018 Even Semester.

Figure 1: The comparison of the distribution of marks

between Even 2016/2017 Semester and Even 2017/2018

Semester.

The result shows that in 2017/2018 Even Semester,

70 % of the students enrolled this subject got B grade

and above. None of the students got A and E grades.

Meanwhile, for 2016/2017 Even Semester, 83.9 % of

the students got B- grade and below, and 18.9 % of

students fail this subject.

The mean, lowest and highest marks were also

compared between 2016/2017 Even Semester and

2017/2018 Even Semester. Table 1. shows the

comparison of mean, lowest and highest marks

between both semesters.

Table 1: The comparison of mean, lowest, highest marks

between 2016/2017 EVEN Semester and 2017/2018

EVENSemester.

Semester

Marks

Mean ± SD

Lowest

Highest

2016/2017

61.7± 11.96

85.5

2017/2018

72.3 ± 5.39

82.6

The result shows in 2017/2018 Even Semester, the

mean increase to 72.3 compares to the previous

semester which was 61.7. The lowest marks increase

to 59 compares to the previous semester which was

only 15.

4 CONCLUSION

In collaborative learning method, there are five

important elements, namely positive

interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual

accountability, social skills, and group processing.

(4). Positive interdependence was done through

individual assignment and group assignments. The

group assignments are summarized from individual

tasks. The students’ performances are quite good,

because all the students carried out their tasks and

submitted them according to the specified period. The

success of group performance is a reflection of the

individual contribution to the group (Johnson and

Smith, 1991). group members should actively help,

encourage each other and divide the task individually

to create positive interdependence (Johnson and

Smith, 1991; Johnson, 1993; Kagan, 1992). In the

learning of this Pharmacognosy I subject, the

implementation of Collaborative Learning method

shows to be effective in improving the final grade, the

mean marks, and the lowest marks. According to

several studies, collaborative learning produces

positive learning outcomes from several subjects such

as statistics, sociology, political science and also

when applied in large classes (Caulfield and Persell,

2006; Goerge, 1994; McKinney, 1993). Collaborative

learning has proven to be more effective than

traditional methods which are categorized as high and

average attainments. However, 2 factors influence the

0 0 0

3,8

2,8

4,7 4,7

29,2

26,4

9,4

0,0

15,1

3,8

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D E

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENT'S

MARKS

Sem 2017/2018 Sem 2016/2017

Implementation of Collaborative Learning in Pharmacognosy Lesson

results, namely the number of respondents, the ability

of teachers (Majoka et.al., 2011).

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author would like to thank LP3M Universitas

Andalas for the financial support of this research.

REFERENCES

Brufee, K. 1999. Collaborative Learning: Higher

Education, Interdependence and the Authority of

Knowledge. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University

Press.

Caulfield, S. and C. Hodges Persell. 2006. ‘‘Teaching

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George, P. 1994. ‘‘The Effectiveness of Cooperative

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Johnson, D. W. and R. T. Johnson. 1989. Cooperation and

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Johnson, D., R. Johnson, and K. Smith. 1991a. Active

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Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning for Teaching

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McKinney, K., and M. Graham-Buxton. (1993). ‘‘The Use

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