Innovative teaching and learning method that chalks up prominent history
Learning can always be fun and effective at the same time. The key is innovative learning. A novel learning method that finds its way out of the box is rewriting the history of effective learning for the history subject among senior high school students (Form 4 – 5, SPM bound) of Malaysia. The emergence of ‘Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah’ (History Challenge Exploration) is taking the Malaysian schools by storm for its breakthrough formula that unlocks the secret to making learning more interesting, fun, engaging, meaningful and most importantly, effective!
Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah (ECS) is the brainchild of Zulhelmi Mansor, a history teacher of SMK Agama Kuala Selangor, who is also the winner of the ‘Guru Cemerlang Sejarah’ (Excellence Award for History) of Selangor. Thanks to the resourcefulness of Zulhemi and the diligence of his dedicated team and an endorsement from the Vocational and Technique Education Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia, the exciting invention earned a much deserving entry into the history book of great achievements, all the way to the international stage.
The crowning of ‘Gold Award 2014’ at the International Conference on Quality (ICQ) in Tokyo is a testament to a brilliant, creative thinking that embodies ingenuity, hard work and productivity. Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah (ECS) is a game-driven, educational teaching and learning method specifically designed for the learning of history, targeting SPM bound students (Form 4 – 5).
The ‘Gold Medal’ feat was achieved by team Master-H from the Ministry of Education Malaysia headed by Suraimi Rithwan. Following the historic win, the team has earned itself a place in the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement, which will be held in the United States of America in 2016. The ICQ in Tokyo was endorsed by the Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), American Society for Quality (ASQ) and European Organisation for Quality (EOQ). The International Conference on Quality (ICQ) is held once every three years with participation from over 38 nations (e.g. USA, Canada, Poland, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, China, Thailand, India and others), involving some 1,000 representatives.
More significantly, the Gold Medal honours to team Master-H came in a historic moment where the SGA Kaizen ICQ only made its debut this year since its establishment in 1969. In other words, the 2014 ICQ Tokyo witnessed the birth of the first ever champion, which happened to be a team from Malaysia. The ‘innovation’ project won the hearts of the panel of judges through the introduction of Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah (ECS), a teaching and learning tool in the form of a board game. The ‘history learning’ board game was a result of a case study on ‘Decline in School’s Grade Point Average for History Subject in Public Examination (Malaysian Certificate of Education).
Other accolades under the belt of team Master-H include representing Ministry of Education at the 2014 National Convention of Team Excellence by Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC), which took place at Bukit Gambang Resort City, Kuantan; and being crowned the MPC Chairman Award winner, 3-Star Gold Award
and finishing as one of the Top 10 Best teams at the prestige event.
“The great success of Master-H was a result of utmost commitment and dedication from all the team members. It required tremendous amount of hard work from incubation to design and execution, with endless sacrifice in the form of time, energy and thinking. It paid off handsomely in the end as Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah was recognised internationally as a marvellous teaching and learning tool for the history subject. The innovative ideas of this project have proudly put Malaysia on the world map for others to emulate,” Suraimi said.
Apart from the physical board game, feel free to explore Eksplorasi Cabaran Sejarah (ECS) online at http://eksplorasi-cabaran. com.my/