Teachers' Understanding of Cognitive Process and Knowledge Dimensions in Learning Tool Development

Optimizing Learning Communities to Enhance Elementary Teachers' Pedagogical Competence in Merdeka Curriculum

Effective implementation of Indonesia's Merdeka Curriculum demands enhanced teacher pedagogical competence, yet many elementary schools struggle with learning community structures that remain formally established but operationally suboptimal. This qualitative descriptive case study was conducted at SDN Gelar 1, Kecamatan Cianjur, West Java, from March 13–18, 2025. Twelve participants — one principal and eleven classroom teachers — were selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered via in-depth interviews, structured observations, and documentation review, and analyzed using Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña's interactive model, guided by the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) management cycle framework. Findings indicate that the PDCA-structured learning community progressively improved teachers' ability to develop Merdeka Curriculum instructional tools. Improvement rates were highest for learning objective sequences (ATP) and teaching modules (modul ajar) at 8 of 11 teachers, while value-laden competencies such as Pancasila Student Profile integration showed the lowest uptake (5 of 11). Individual mentoring, structured post-session reflection, and active principal leadership were identified as critical enabling factors. Learning community optimization through PDCA creates a self-correcting professional development architecture; however, collaborative mechanisms are more effective for procedural-structural competencies than for deep pedagogical value internalization. Multi-site and longitudinal studies are recommended.

Cognitive Task Analysis Against the Low Implementation of Data-Based Instructional Design in Kindergarten Teachers' Differentiated Learning Practices

The main objective of this study is to analyze the cognitive barriers that underlie the limited transformation of assessment data into proactive instructional design in the practice of Differentiated Instruction (DI) among Kindergarten teachers. The method used is descriptive qualitative with a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) approach to uncover expert decision-making processes that are often implicit. The research subjects involved 31 expert teachers from 31 districts/cities in Indonesia, with data collected through STAR essays, practice video recordings, and structured interviews. The analysis was carried out using the parameters of the DI 4:9:2 skill formula, which included the preparation, implementation, and evaluation phases. The results of the study revealed a significant phenomenon of "practice fragmentation"; Although 42% of kindergarten teachers routinely conduct pre-assessments, only 3% use them to determine learning objectives and materials. Teachers showed high dominance in reactive differentiation through the provision of additional support (90.32%) but very low dominance in proactive adaptation of instruction (26%). These findings suggest a cognitive barrier in "data translation" skills in the preparatory phase, where assessment is often only an administrative formality, rather than a pedagogical foundation. The main recommendation of this study is to reorient the teacher professional development program from merely a data-collection tool to one that strengthens skills in assessment-based instructional design. In addition, strengthening Learning Communities is highly recommended to facilitate the sharing of cognitive strategies and "rules of thumb" to bridge the gap between assessment data and adaptive learning planning.  

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Patterns and pathways of teacher PCK development: a qualitative case study in translation education

Translation education lacks empirical research on how teachers develop pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This qualitative multi-case study investigates the initial PCK and its development in three Chinese translation teachers — two academic instructors and one translator teacher — using a framework integrating Shulman’s (1986, 1987) PCK, Chen’s (2009, 2011) practical knowledge development model, and Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) SECI model. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, student interviews, and questionnaires. Three findings emerged. First, all three teachers lacked adequate PCK at the outset, primarily due to inadequate disciplinary expertise. Second, their PCK growths exhibited three patterns: learning holistically from an expert model (socialization), restructuring teaching by drawing on pedagogical theory (combination plus internalization), and deriving pedagogical change from deepened subject matter understanding (externalization, combination and internalization). Third, while all three endeavored to enhance disciplinary expertise, the academic instructors appeared to approach PCK development from a pedagogical perspective, whereas the sole translator teacher in this study approached it from a subject matter standpoint — an individual-level observation that cannot be taken as representative of all practitioner-turned-teachers. Drawing on these three empirically grounded patterns as its evidential foundation, and extending them through the combinatorial logic of SECI conversion modes, the study tentatively proposes a six-pattern exploratory framework for translation teachers’ PCK development. Only three of the six patterns are directly grounded in the present data; the remaining three are provisional hypotheses that require independent empirical verification before any generalization can be made.

Teachers’ Strategies for Implementing Integrated Learning in First Grade at Public Elementary Schools

This study aims to describe teachers’ strategies for implementing integrated learning in first grade at SD N 2 Tlogotirto. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach using interview and observation data as the primary source. The data were collected through teacher interviews, classroom observation, and documentation, then analyzed through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that integrated learning is understood by the teacher as “pendekatan yg menggabungkan berbagai mata pelajaran ke dalam satu tema sentral.” The teacher’s strategies include mapping basic competencies or indicators, selecting relevant themes, preparing lesson plans or teaching modules, applying student-centered learning, using play-based learning, employing flexible instructional media, and conducting authentic assessment. The teacher also used visual, audio, concrete, technology-based media, and student worksheets to support students’ understanding. The main challenges included students’ limited attention span, difficulty in connecting several subjects into one theme, limited time, curriculum load, and the complexity of planning. The study concludes that integrated learning in first grade can be implemented effectively when the teacher creates active, interactive, meaningful, and enjoyable learning activities

Adapting Literature Circles to Foster Critical Thinking Skills in Indonesian EFL Classrooms: A Qualitative Case Study toward SDG 4