Why Classroom Learning Needs a More Active Approach
Elementary education plays an important role in developing children's knowledge, skills, attitudes, and ability to interact with their surroundings. However, students may struggle to understand lessons when classroom activities rely heavily on teacher explanations, note-taking, and individual assignments without sufficient opportunities to participate.
This challenge was observed among fifth-grade students at SD Negeri 068008 Medan Tuntungan. Before the intervention, classroom learning was dominated by teacher explanations, while some students had difficulty maintaining attention and participating consistently. Some students talked with their classmates during lessons, indicating that the existing learning environment did not fully engage everyone.
The initial assessment of 25 students revealed that only 11 had achieved the required learning standard. The class average was 54, and the classical learning mastery rate stood at 44%. The remaining 14 students had not met the established criteria.
These results prompted the research team to introduce Quantum Teaching, a learning model that emphasizes meaningful experiences, active participation, interaction, and positive reinforcement. Instead of treating students as passive recipients of information, the model encourages them to engage directly with the learning process.
How Quantum Teaching Works in the Classroom
The research team implemented Quantum Teaching through a six-stage learning sequence known as TANDUR. Each stage serves a different purpose in helping students understand and retain lesson material.
The six stages are:
- Tumbuhkan (Grow): Build students' interest, motivation, and readiness to learn.
- Alami (Experience): Give students opportunities to experience activities related to the lesson.
- Namai (Name): Help students identify, understand, and organize the concepts they encounter.
- Demonstrasikan (Demonstrate): Allow students to show what they have learned through classroom activities.
- Ulangi (Repeat): Reinforce understanding through review and repetition.
- Rayakan (Celebrate): Recognize students' participation, progress, and achievements.
This sequence offers a structured alternative to lessons that depend mainly on verbal explanations. Students are encouraged to build understanding through experience, demonstrate their knowledge, revisit important concepts, and receive appreciation for their efforts.
The approach is particularly relevant to IPAS, which combines natural and social sciences. Learning in this subject can benefit from activities that help students connect classroom concepts with real-life situations, observe their surroundings, discuss ideas, and demonstrate their understanding.
Classroom Research Shows Steady Improvement
The study used classroom action research based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model. The process involved planning, implementing teaching activities, observing classroom interactions, and reflecting on the results before making improvements in the next cycle.
The research focused on 25 fifth-grade students in class V-B at SD Negeri 068008 Medan Tuntungan. Data were collected through learning assessments, classroom observations, and documentation. The researchers compared the results from the initial assessment, Cycle I, and Cycle II to identify changes in academic performance and classroom participation.
The findings showed consistent improvement across the two intervention cycles.
Key learning outcomes:
- Before the intervention: The class average was 54, with 44% of students meeting the learning mastery standard.
- After Cycle I: The class average increased to 66, and the mastery rate reached 60%.
- After Cycle II: The class average rose to 82, while the mastery rate reached 92%.
- The improvement was also visible in the number of students who achieved the required standard. Initially, 11 of the 25 students met the criteria. After Cycle I, this number increased to 15. By the end of Cycle II, 23 students had achieved mastery, leaving only two students who had not yet met the standard.
The class average increased by 28 points from the initial assessment to the final cycle. Meanwhile, the mastery rate rose by 48 percentage points, from 44% to 92%.
These results exceeded the study's predefined success indicator of 75% classical learning mastery.
Student Participation Increased Alongside Academic Performance
The improvement was not limited to test scores. Classroom observations also showed that both teacher implementation and student participation improved between the two cycles.
During Cycle I, teacher activity was recorded at 76%, while student activity reached 62%. Following reflection and adjustments to the teaching process, the results improved in Cycle II.
Teacher activity increased to 92%, while student activity rose to 90%. The 28-percentage-point increase in student activity suggests that students became more involved in the classroom activities as the intervention progressed.
The research team used the first cycle to identify areas requiring improvement. The subsequent cycle included more structured instructions, broader opportunities for participation, and additional guidance for students who experienced difficulties.
This process illustrates an important feature of classroom action research: teachers can evaluate what happens during lessons and use the findings to improve subsequent teaching. Rather than repeating the same activities without modification, educators can adjust their strategies based on students' responses and learning needs.
Implications for Elementary Education
The findings suggest that Quantum Teaching can be a useful alternative for elementary school teachers seeking to improve IPAS learning outcomes and encourage greater classroom participation.
For teachers, the TANDUR sequence provides a practical framework for organizing lessons that move beyond explanations and written assignments. Activities can be designed to capture students' attention, connect concepts with experience, provide opportunities to demonstrate understanding, and reinforce learning through review and recognition.
For schools, the results highlight the value of supporting teachers who want to experiment with more interactive instructional approaches. Professional development, collaborative lesson planning, and discussions of classroom practices can help educators refine their teaching methods in response to students' needs.
Students may also benefit from learning environments that give them more opportunities to participate, express ideas, demonstrate knowledge, and receive constructive feedback. Such experiences can complement academic learning by encouraging responsibility, communication, and engagement.
However, the findings should be interpreted within the scope of the study. The research involved one class of 25 students at a single elementary school and did not use a separate control group. Therefore, the results demonstrate improvement during the implementation of Quantum Teaching in this classroom but do not establish that the model alone caused every observed change or that the same results will occur in all schools.
Further research involving different schools, larger groups of students, and other IPAS topics could help clarify how consistently the approach works across educational settings.
About the Authors
The study was written by six researchers affiliated with the Primary School Teacher Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas, Medan, Indonesia:
Darinda Sofia Tanjung
Rosiana Pepayosa Br Sinulingga
Rini Samaria Butar Butar
Ebita Nanda Br Depari
Rania Marsela Br Perangin Angin
Agustina E. Limbong
Their institutional affiliation places the study within the field of elementary teacher education and instructional practice. The supplied article identifies Rosiana Pepayosa Br Sinulingga as the corresponding author, reachable at rosianapepayosa@gmail.com. Individual academic degrees, formal titles, and specific research specializations were not provided in the supplied manuscript.
Research Source
Article title: “The Implementation of the Quantum Teaching Model to Improve Students’ Learning Outcomes in IPAS for Grade V Students at SD Negeri 068008 Medan Tuntungan in the 2025/2026 Academic Year”
Authors: Darinda Sofia Tanjung, Rosiana Pepayosa Br Sinulingga, Rini Samaria Butar Butar, Ebita Nanda Br Depari, Rania Marsela Br Perangin Angin, and Agustina E. Limbong.
Institution: Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas, Medan, Indonesia.
Journal: Asian Journal of Applied Education (AJAE).
Publication year: 2026, as indicated in the supplied manuscript.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/ajae.v5i4.16969
Official journal website: https://journal.formosapublisher.org/index.php/ajae
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), as stated in the supplied manuscript.
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