The Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI) held a community service activity in the form of chemistry material enrichment for high school teachers, on Wednesday (10/8) and Saturday (13/8) in the Sinar Mas Hall, Multidisciplinary Laboratory Building, FMIPA UI – PT Pertamina, UI Campus, Depok.
The Vice Dean for Education, Research, and Student Affairs, Dr.rer.nat. Budiawan, officially opened the event. Addressing the participants, he stated, "The importance of chemistry in all aspects of life presents a challenge for us all, as well as an opportunity for teachers to more broadly convey the role of chemistry to students."
Dr. Asep Saefumillah, M.Si. as the Head of the Chemistry Department in his remarks said, "This activity is a manifestation of the concern of the Chemistry Department of FMIPA UI in order to improve the understanding and mastery of chemistry among high school teachers, as well as being a part of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education."
Furthermore, Dr. Asep said that high school teachers have a very open opportunity to continue their education to the next level through the Postgraduate program at the Department of Chemistry, FMIPA UI.
Meanwhile, Dr. Iman Abdullah, Head of the community service team, stated that the participants' interest in this activity was quite high. A total of 70 participants participated in the activity. hybrid tersebut. hybrid the.
"The teachers come from high schools in various regions such as DKI Jakarta, Depok, Bogor, Karawang, Bekasi and Tangerang," he said to the FMIPA UI Public Relations team.
He continued, explaining that the first day of community service activities was led by three lecturers, each with their respective fields of expertise, including Dr. Iman. Dr. Iman provided the first enrichment session on chemical equilibrium, which began with an online survey via Mentimeter.
Participants were given the opportunity to present the chemistry topics they considered easiest and the chemistry topics they considered most difficult. The majority of participants reported that topics such as acids and bases were the easiest, while topics such as chemical equilibrium were the most challenging Ksp and organic chemistry is the most difficult material.
Participants were also given a quiz at the beginning to assess their understanding of the chemical equilibrium material. On average, only about 50% of participants answered the questions correctly, indicating the importance of this enrichment activity.
Dr. Helmiyati delivered the second enrichment topic on chemical kinetics. During the discussion, participants enthusiastically asked various questions, including questions about the correlation between the independent curriculum in high schools and chemical kinetics in everyday life.
The third enrichment topic was delivered by Dr. rer.nat. Agustino Zulys. In his presentation on chemistry misconceptions in high school, Dr. Agustino addressed the frequent public assumption that chemistry is difficult. To address this, chemistry teachers often draw analogies between chemical principles and everyday phenomena to facilitate the delivery of the material to students.
However, he believes this method often leads to misconceptions regarding chemistry itself, both among students and the teachers who teach it. Therefore, a comprehensive and accurate understanding of chemistry concepts is necessary to avoid misconceptions.
The first day of community service activities closed with a quiz via the Quizizz platform to determine the participants' level of understanding of the enrichment provided.
The second day's activities were led by Dr. Yuni K. Krisnandi, M.Sc., who provided enrichment material on chemical bonds. In her presentation, Dr. Yuni explained that chemical bonds are the "soul" of chemistry. This, she explained, is because chemical bonds determine the stability of a compound and influence the physical and chemical properties of a material.
In front of the participants, Dr. Yuni presented several crystal structure models to deepen the participants' understanding of chemical bonds and the structure of related compounds.
Some of the crystal structure models shown include the NaCl (cube), diamond, TiO2ZnS, and hexagonal structure models.
The second enrichment session was delivered by Dr. Bayu Ardiansah on the topic of organic chemistry. Dr. Bayu outlined organic chemical reactions through an understanding of the concepts of nucleophiles and electrophiles. The discussion proceeded interactively through the presentation of several case studies. Several participants who successfully answered the questions received book gifts from Dr. Bayu.
Next, the third enrichment session was delivered by Prof. Dr. Yoki Yulizar, M.Sc., on the topic of nanomaterial chemistry. Prof. Yoki explained the important role of nanomaterials in various aspects such as health, energy, and the environment, as well as their synthesis strategies.
On that occasion, Prof. Yoki provided examples of the application of nanotechnology in everyday life, as well as simple nanotechnology projects that can be implemented in high schools. One example involves the degradation of dye waste using nano ZnO, which can be simply synthesized in a school lab using zinc nitrate precursors, a base source, and NaBH2 reductant.4.4.
Like the first day, the second day's community service activities also concluded with a quiz for participants. This second day's community service activities were attended by more participants. offline compared to the first day. It was recorded that 26 participants were present in person. offline dan 35 secara online via zoom.
This activity is part of a series of community service activities that will be held over four days, including August 16 and 20, 2022.
