Translated from Indonesian to English - www.onlinedoctranslator.

com

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER EDUCATION

AT SCHOOL

ABSTRACTCharacter education has become a hot discourse in the world of Indonesian education,
although the idea of character is an old idea as old as the history of education, but the emergence of
the idea of "character education" (character building) interrupts our nation, especially the one that is
engulfing the Indonesian nation. Problems that occur such as violence, corruption, manipulation, lying
practices in the world of education ranging from cheating in exams to plagiarism, lack of example
among the nation's leaders, and so on, actually involve character issues. Although it is too late in
implementing character education in schools, "But late than never", there are still many generations of
us students who sit in school and need character education so that in the future they become people
who are not only intellectually intelligent but also have character. Education in schools is still
believed to be a very powerful medium in building the intelligence, skills and personality of students.
School is a place that manages and organizes learning activities that have consistent and continuous
intensity so that the transformation of knowledge is complete, develops the personality and character
of students by applying the noble values of the nation and religion.

A. INTRODUCTION
Background
Education is a system and procedure for improving a person's quality of life in all aspects of
his life in the world. Education has a very strategic and urgent value in the formation of a nation.
Education also seeks to ensure the survival of the nation. Because through education it does not only
function for how to know and how to do, as well as how to live together, but what is very important is
how to be, so how to be tangible, it is necessary to transfer culture and culture. Education is basically
a strategic tool to increase the nation's potential to be able to take part in a more global level.
According to Hanson and Brembeck in Hadiyanto, education is an investment in people, to develop
individuals and communities, and on the other hand education is a source for economic growth.
Student learning outcomes are one indicator of the success of education that takes place in
schools and is obtained through a learning process at once to state the level of success achieved by a
student after going through learning activities. Learning outcomes that have been achieved can be
measured through tests of progress obtained by students after they have studied by giving scores from
various aspects. In relation to learning outcomes, Sudjiono (2001: 32) suggests that student learning
outcomes must reveal aspects of thinking ability (cognitive dominant), aspects of values and attitudes
(affective domain) and aspects of skills (psychomotor do).minan) attached to each individual student.
One of the factors that determine student learning outcomes is the ability of teachers to use learning
strategies as a method used in managing learning activities by coordinating subject matter and
students, equipment and materials and time to achieve predetermined learning objectives effectively
and efficiently.
Schools, which are formal educational institutions, must be able to develop all the potential
possessed by students. Schools are complex and unique institutions. It is complex because schools as
organizations have various dimensions which are interrelated and mutually supportive. It is unique
because the school has its own character, in which there is a teaching and learning process, a place for
holding culture that is shown to improve the quality and develop the potential of students. The
potential of these students includes cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects. Based on the
previous description, it can be understood that schools are educational institutions that can change the
way of thinking, lifestyle, habits, and social procedures. Teachers are facilitators in education in
schools and can improve students' learning achievement. In addition to the teacher there are factors
that influence the student learning process, namely: Internal Factors and External Factors. Internal
factors usually consist of intelligence, interests, talents, motivation, mental and attention, and external
factors consist of the school environment, family, and society.
The learning process in the world of basic education is an effort to prepare or provide
provisions for students so that in the future they can live independently in society, be responsive to all
problems that exist in the community and have the skills to solve problems. Based on the previous
description, it can be understood that learning is a planned activity, in order to stimulate someone to
carry out teaching and learning activities in accordance with the objectives.
Students' interest in learning in participating in learning is something important in the smooth
teaching and learning process. Students who have high interest in learning in the learning process can
support the teaching and learning process for the better, and vice versa, if students' interest in learning
is low, the quality of learning will decrease and will affect learning outcomes. Slameto (1995: 57)
explains that interest is "a high tendency of the heart towards something". Interest is a relatively
permanent trait in a person. Interest is a permanent interest or tendency to pay attention or be involved
in something because they realize its importance or value. Students who have an interest in learning
can be seen from the indicators of interest in learning which measure the following aspects:
1. The presence of students for those who take part in learning
2. Readiness of students in receiving lessons
3. Attention of students in learning
4. Student persistence in working on practice questions
5. Students' ability to answer questions
6. The enthusiasm of students in answering questions
7. Students' interest in answering questions

Tahfidz Al-Azka Martyrs Middle School is a formal education school. The school, which is
located at Buanajaya Tanjungsari, Bogor, is a school with a junior high school level of education.
Based on experience from PPL activities (Practice Field Experience) that have been carried out at
Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada Middle School regarding learning English, the delivery of material carried
out by teaching staff at Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada Middle School is learning methods such as lectures,
notes, and also end the lesson by giving the student a practice task about the material discussed.
The learning interest of students at Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada Middle School is still lacking, it
will cause learning to be inactive, and will have an impact on learning outcomes. Therefore, we as
educators must be able to generate interest in learning in students. We also as educators must be able
to increase interest in learning which is the most important thing in every human being in order to
achieve the goals intended by an educator, especially in students to have a sense of enthusiasm in
learning. A good educator is able to generate interest in learning. However, each subject has a
different level of difficulty, so to generate interest in learning there is a strong learning urge,
especially from educators. From the description of the field results that the researchers got,
 Learning Outcomes Data for Grade VII Students in Odd Semesters at Tahfidz Al-Azka
Martyrs Middle School for the 2021/2022 Academic Year

No Description KKM Learners Percentage

Value
1 > 70 39 65%
2 < 70 21 45%
Amount 60 100%

Based on the table above, in the learning and teaching process, student participation is very
important in learning. This is because essentially learning is an interaction between students and their
environment. Therefore, learning activities must be carried out by teachers and students so that
learning objectives can be achieved effectively and efficiently. Based on the previous description, in
order to improve the learning outcomes obtained by students in SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada by
developing interest in learning, enthusiasm and thinking skills of children, one of which can be
applied to English subjects.
Teachers as motivators should be able to encourage students to be passionate and active in
learning. In an effort to provide motivation, teachers can analyze the motives behind students being
lazy to study and decreasing their achievement in school. Motivation can be effective if it is done by
paying attention to the needs of students. The teacher's role as a motivator is very important in
educative interactions, because it involves the essence of an educator's job that requires social skills,
concerning performance in personalization and social socialization (in Kristiawan 2017: 61-65).
Therefore, researchers are interested in raising the title "Correlation of Learning Interest on Student
Learning Outcomes."

B. MATERIALS AND METHODS

1. Types of Research and Research Design
a. Types of research
This research uses quantitative research methods. Quantitative research can be defined as a
research method based on the philosophy of positivism, which is used to examine certain populations
and samples, collect data using research instruments, analyze data and are quantitative or statistical,
with the aim of testing hypotheses. Based on the definition of the type of research above, the research
carried out is field research, research carried out in real life with quantitative research methods,
researchers conduct research.
b. Research design
The design of this study used a correlation design. Correlation design is a research that is intended
to determine whether there is a relationship between two or several variables. Based on its definition,
this research design was chosen to investigate the relationship between the measurement results on
two different variables at the same time. This study aims to analyze whether there is a correlation
between the variables of learning interest and student learning outcomes in learning English for class
VII students of SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada.
2. Place and Time of Research
a. The place
This research was conducted at Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada Middle School which is located at
Kp. Cibeureum RT. 04/06 . With a population of students who are in class VII.
b. Research time
This research was conducted at the time of conducting PPL and coincidentally in the even
semester of 2021/2022.
3. Research variable
Variables are everything that is studied by researchers, be it humans, objects, systems or others. In
this regard, most believe that research always involves statistics. While statistics are always associated
with value variations. Therefore, the variable is often interpreted as "something that has a variation in
value". With a note, that if something has no variation in value, then something cannot be analyzed
(especially statistically).
Based on the above understanding of the variables in this study there are several variables
used, namely:
a. Independent Variable (variable X)
The independent variable or often called the independent variable. In principle, this variable is
a variable that influences the dependent variable. In this study, the independent sub-variable is interest
in learning.
b. Bound Variable (variable Y)
The dependent variable or often called the dependent variable is the variable that is influenced
by the independent variable. In this study, the dependent sub variable is learning outcomes.
4. Population and Sample
a. Population
Population can be interpreted as the whole object/subject used as a source of data in a study.
In the study, the population was class VII students in the even semester of SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka
Syuhada for the academic year 2021/2022 with the following class distribution.
Distribution of Even Semester VII Class Students
Tahfidz Al-Azka Martyrs Middle School for the Academic Year 2021/2022

No Class Number of Students

1 VII A 30
VII B 30
Total Population 60

b. Sample
The sample is part of the population that is used as the object/subject of the research.
So the sample is part of the number and characteristics possessed by the population. The
sample of this study were students who came from VII at SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada.
Class IV A is the class that was chosen to be the sample in the research that the researcher
will do and with the hope that the results of the study can describe the entire population.

5. Data collection technique

The data that will be collected is in the form of data about interest in learning English. Interest in
learning is observed based on learning outcomes. Data collection techniques used by researchers are:
 a. the distribution of the questionnaire (questionnaire) to be filled out by members of the
population who were selected as samples.
b. Questionnaire is a data collection technique which is done by giving a set of questions or a
written statement to the respondent to answer.

Questionnaire is an efficient data collection technique if the researcher knows with certainty the
variable to be measured and knows what can be expected from the respondent. In addition,
questionnaires are also suitable for use when the number of questionnaires is large enough and spread
over a wide area. Questionnaires can be in the form of closed or open questions/statements, can be
given to respondents directly or sent via the internet or post.
Based on the above definition, the questionnaire used in this study is a closed questionnaire.
Questionnaires are used to obtain data that will be processed by researchers in order to obtain results
that will be used as benchmarks and prove the results of the research that the researchers conducted
regarding interest in learning with learning outcomes in learning English.
The measurement scale used is the Likert scale. This Likert scale is used to measure attitudes,
opinions and perceptions of a person or group of people about social phenomena. In the research of
this social phenomenon, it has been specifically defined by the researcher, hereinafter referred to as
the research variable. The Likert scale can be seen below:
Likert scale

Alternative Weight

Strongly agree SS
Agree S
Doubtful RR
Do not agree TS
Strongly Disagree STS

The questionnaire in this study consisted of positive and negative statements. The following is
a questionnaire of interest in learning English that researchers will use in this study:
Score Alternative Answer Questionnaire Interest in Learning

Alternative Statement Score Statement score

Positive Negative
Strongly agree 5 1
Agree 4 2
Doubtful 3 3
Do not agree 2 4
Strongly Disagree 1 5

The questionnaire in this study consisted of positive and negative statements. The following is
a questionnaire of interest in learning English that the researcher will use in this study:
Learning Interest Questionnaire

No Indicator No Item Amount

(+) (-)
1 Diligently follow the lesson 1, 2 3, 4 4
2 Student neatness in learning 5, 6, 7, 8 9, 10, 11, 12 8
 3 Student attention in learning 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 11
16, 17, 18 22, 23
4 Student persistence in learning 24, 25 26, 27 4
5 Student discipline in learning 28, 29 30 3
Amount 30

C. Research Instruments
In principle, research is to take measurements, so there must be a good measuring instrument.
Measurement tools in research are usually called research instruments. So the research instrument is a
tool used to measure the observed natural and social phenomena. Specifically, this phenomenon is
called research variable. Based on the definition of the research instrument above, the instruments in
this study were documentation and questionnaires. The questionnaire research instrument was used as
a measuring tool for students' learning interest in learning English.
D. RESULTS
Product Moment Correlation Test
The Pearson correlation or often called the Product Moment Correlation is a statistical test
tool used to test the associative hypothesis (test relationship) of the two variables in this study.
Product moment correlation test in this study was used to determine the correlation between the
independent variables (independent) on the dependent variable. Product moment correlation can be
seen whether or not there is a correlation between interest in learning and learning outcomes. The
proof of the correlation referred to in this study are:
To find out the interest in learning towards student learning outcomes in learning English in class
VII SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada:

No Interest to Learning outcomes

learn

1 56 58
2 57 67
3 56 56
4 55 66
5 57 58
6 56 67
7 54 66
8 58 65
9 57 57
10 55 78
11 56 67
12 58 77
13 57 77
14 54 76
15 56 58
16 55 77
17 57 58
18 55 77
19 56 56
20 68 59
21 66 67
22 67 76
 23 68 78
24 55 77
25 57 60
26 56 77
27 66 76
28 65 66
29 65 57
30 64 77

Hypothesis:
Ho: There is no significant relationship between interest in learning and student learning outcomes

Ha : There is a significant relationship between interest in learning and student learning

outcomes

Testing Criteria:
Ho is accepted if the significance > 0.05
Ho is rejected if the significance is < 0.05

Correlations

Interest to Learning
learn outcomes

Interest to Pearson Correlation 1 ,073

learn Sig. (2-tailed) ,701

N 30 30
Learning Pearson Correlation ,073 1
outcomes Sig. (2-tailed) ,701

N 30 30

Sig < 0.05 , 0.701 < 0.05 then HO is rejected

From the results of simple correlation analysis (r) the correlation between interest in learning
and student learning outcomes (r) is 0.701. This shows that there is a strong relationship between
interest in learning and student learning outcomes, while the direction of the relationship is positive
because the r value is positive, meaning interest in learning can improve student learning outcomes.
Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between interest in learning and student learning
outcomes in class VII SMP Tahfidz Al-Azka Syuhada in learning English.

E. Discussion
Based on the results of the study, the results of hypothesis testing on the variables of interest
in learning and learning outcomes have a relationship between the two. This can be seen based on
the results of the SPSS calculation which obtained a sig (2-tailed) value of 0.701 < 0.05, it can be
 concluded that there is a significant correlation between interest in learning and student learning
outcomes in learning English for class VII SMP Tahfidz- Al-Azka Martyrs.
From the explanation above, which has been described, it can be concluded that students'
learning interest can affect student learning outcomes. Class VII students of Tahfidz-Al-Azka
Syuhada Middle School for the 2020/2021 academic year have low interest in learning. This has
been proven from several questionnaires of interest in learning which show that interest in
learning is still low. The results of the distribution of the questionnaire revealed that students'
interest in learning was still low due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors in schools that influenced
each other.
F. Conclusion
Based on the results of the hypothesis test of the variable interest in learning and learning
outcomes, there is a correlation between the two. This can be seen based on the results of the
SPSS calculation which obtained a sig (2-tailed) value of 0.701 < 0.05, it can be concluded that
there is a significant correlation between interest in learning and student learning outcomes in
learning English for class VII SMP Tahfidz- Al-Azka Martyrs.
G. Suggestion
In delivering English learning materials, not all students have enthusiasm in learning without
being motivated to grow their interest in learning. So here it is necessary to grow interest in
learning in students so that they can participate in learning and teaching activities actively.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Junita Ekomadyo, Ike. 2015. 22 Principles of Effective Communication to Increase Children's Interest
in Learning. Bandung : Symbiosis Rekatama Media.
T. Aritonang, Keke. 2018. “Interest and Motivation in Improving Student Learning Outcomes”.
Journal of Sower Education. No.10.
Widiasworo, Erwin. 2017. Problems of Students in Class and Their Solutions”. Yogyakarta : Araska.