Valevi Intan Devia Mulya, Agus Susilo

Students Who Drive the Spirit of Learning through the Actualization of the Teaching Campus Program

Introduction

Students who drive the spirit of learning through the actualization of the teaching campus program. Indonesia's Teaching Campus Program leverages university students to boost learning motivation in 3T schools. Creative methods and peer support enhance student engagement and confidence.

Abstract

Educational inequality in Indonesia’s frontier, outermost, and disadvantaged (3T) areas results in low student motivation and limited access to quality education. To address this, the Teaching Campus Program—part of the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) initiative—deploys university students to assist in under-resourced schools. This study examines how the program enhances student motivation through direct involvement of Teaching Campus participants. Using descriptive qualitative methods, data were collected through observation and documentation to capture real interactions between students and program participants. The findings reveal that university students positively influence learning motivation by applying creative strategies, including digital media, project-based learning, educational games, and positive peer modeling. These approaches helped students act as academic mentors and emotional supporters, increasing confidence and engagement among schoolchildren. The study supports Self-Determination Theory and Social Cognitive Theory by demonstrating how autonomy, competence, relatedness, and self-efficacy can be fostered in rural educational environments through peer-based learning. Practically, the findings inform schools, policymakers, and universities on designing more effective Teaching Campus implementations. Despite its contributions, the study is limited to a single school and lacks comparative data. Further research is needed to evaluate long-term outcomes and apply findings across diverse educational contexts to ensure broader impact. Highlights:   Enhances student motivation through creative, engaging teaching methods. Promotes autonomy and self-efficacy aligned with psychological learning theories. Supports practical improvement for 3T schools via university student involvement.   Keywords: Educational Inequality, Teaching Campus Program, Student Motivation, Rural Education, Peer-Based Learning

Review

This study, titled "Students Who Drive the Spirit of Learning through the Actualization of the Teaching Campus Program," addresses the critical issue of educational inequality and low student motivation in Indonesia's 3T (frontier, outermost, and disadvantaged) regions, offering timely insights into the efficacy of the Teaching Campus Program. The paper's focus on a national initiative like Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) and its direct impact on underserved schools is highly relevant. Utilizing a descriptive qualitative methodology, the research design effectively captures the nuanced real-world interactions between university student participants and schoolchildren, providing a rich understanding of the program's mechanisms. The clear objective of enhancing student motivation through direct involvement makes the study's purpose well-defined and practically oriented. The findings compellingly illustrate how university students, through the application of creative and engaging strategies such as digital media integration, project-based learning, educational games, and positive peer modeling, effectively served as academic mentors and emotional supporters. This directly contributed to increased confidence and engagement among schoolchildren. Crucially, the study successfully anchors its practical observations within established psychological frameworks, supporting Self-Determination Theory (through fostering autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and Social Cognitive Theory (by enhancing self-efficacy) in a rural educational context. This theoretical grounding strengthens the work by providing a conceptual lens through which to interpret the observed positive outcomes of peer-based learning. While the study makes valuable contributions, particularly in demonstrating the positive impact of the Teaching Campus Program and its theoretical alignment, it candidly acknowledges limitations. The focus on a single school, though providing depth, limits the generalizability of the findings, and the absence of comparative data precludes a broader understanding of the program's relative effectiveness. Future research would significantly benefit from expanding the scope to multiple schools across diverse 3T areas, incorporating longitudinal studies to evaluate long-term outcomes, and potentially integrating quantitative measures to complement the qualitative insights. Despite these limitations, the paper offers concrete, actionable insights for policymakers, universities, and schools on designing more effective implementations of the Teaching Campus Program, underscoring its practical utility in improving educational quality in underserved regions.

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