Page 187 - Jurnal Pendidikan Tingkatan Enam 2019 - Jilid 3

JURNAL PENDIDIKAN TINGKATAN ENAM 2019 JILID 3

5.2 Preliminary Review of Problem Analysis

5.2.1 The Treatment
The treatment allowed the students to explore online discussions in the MWEG. The
online discussions took place for the duration of five weeks during which the students
communicated information and articulated their views regarding the designated topics. As
mentioned earlier, the treatment was to complement the face-to-face essay writing activity
in the classrooms. A meeting was set up between the teacher and students three times a
week to accommodate the 40-minutes lesson for each class, as specified according to the
schedules for the class. During these meetings, the specified school syllabus was used
for the teaching and learning process. Additional classes for the period of five weeks were
conducted by the teacher during which the students participated in online discussions on
MWEG.

These extra classes were specifically allotted for writing activities. The students did not
have to be physically present in a classroom, and the teacher was allowed to conduct the
activity from anywhere within the allocated time (at least an hour due to the nature of online
interactions). All conversations in MWEG took place in the presence of the teacher. A set
of ground rules were prepared by the teacher to ensure that all the students must abide
by them. Apart from that, the time was allocated at the beginning and end of each mobile
classroom.

5.2.2 Results
The researcher found the use of MWEG to be fruitful. Based on students’ online discussions
in MWEG, the researcher noticed the respondents were involved in three activities:
conducting lively discussions, the sharing of ideas, and practising turn-taking as evident
in Table 5.1. This observation indicated that the social interactions in MWEG encouraged
the students to participate in collaborative learning. It should be noted that collaborative
learning is an aspect that is significantly accentuated in 21 century pedagogy. It is argued
st
that collaborative learning will subsequently allow the students to negotiate new meaning
and gain knowledge from each other. The topical information shared in the MWEG were
employed by the students to assist them in constructing new ideas and added in their
writing content essay writings.

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