ROLE-PLAY AND SIMULATION METHODS IN STRENGTHENING EMPATHY AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS' MORALS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

This research is based on the phenomenon of Islamic Religious Education (PAI) learning carried out by teachers who still often use one-way methods: lectures and questions and answers. The application of this method can only improve cognitive aspects of abilities, but in terms of students' affective abilities, they have not been achieved optimally. In fact, apart from cognitive abilities, the measure of student achievement in Islamic Religious Education learning is also assessed from the affective and psychomotor aspects, especially in teaching moral material. One of the impacts of the implementation of less meaningful Islamic Religious Education learning is the weak sense of empathy possessed by students and low Islamic Religious Education learning outcomes in moral material. This is reflected in several behavioral deviations that still frequently occur, such as bullying, discrimination, and intolerant attitudes. Therefore, efforts are needed to strengthen empathy and student learning outcomes through the application of role-play and simulation methods in Islamic Religious Education learning in sixth grade of SDN 1 Slorok. The main objective of this study is to determine to what extent the role-play method can strengthen empathy and student learning outcomes in Islamic Religious Education learning, especially in the moral sub-material. The benefit of this research is to provide a contribution to schools regarding the implementation of effective learning methods that can be implemented to improve student learning outcomes and noble character. This research uses a qualitative method with a case study approach. The subjects in this study were 25 students with data collection techniques through interviews, observation, and documentation. The results of the study showed that by implementing the role-play and simulation methods in the Islamic Religious Education subject on morals, there was an increase in learning outcomes, where previously student completion only reached 52% with an average score of 74, now it is 84% with an average score of 80.6. With the role-play method, students can be directly involved in learning activities and simulate moral learning to strengthen students' empathy in solving social problems encountered in their lives. So that Islamic Religious Education learning becomes more active and innovative and has an impact on improving the quality of morals and better learning outcomes.