Strengthening the Capacity of Indonesian and Malaysian Student Institutions with a Project-Based Education Approach

Abstract

Student institutions play an important role in the educational process and social life. In the era of rapid technological development, innovation is needed in every movement and activity of students to maintain their existence. One form of adaptation needed is openness to new methods to expand reach, as well as international collaboration. Student institutions in study programs, such as the Student Association (HIMA) of the Islamic Education Study Program (PAI) at the Faculty of Islamic Religion (FAI) of the University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) and the Islamic Education Lajnah (LPI) of Universiti Malaya (UM), have roles and tasks that have been arranged. Both of these institutions already have work programs and organizational activities, both in academic and non-academic aspects. However, based on initial observations, activists in these two institutions face several problems in carrying out management.  Among others are the lack of cohesiveness between members and fluctuations in the mental well-being condition of student activists which have an impact on the performance of the institution. Given the importance of the role of student institutions, solutions in the form of counseling related to the welfare of student activists are certainly needed. This solution includes aspects of self-regulated learning, socio-emotional management, and mentoring in the implementation of project-based student activities on a global scale. This program aims to increase students' understanding of roles and responsibilities in education and society. The focus of this program is to strengthen emotion regulation and performance management based on the values of cooperation, care, and responsibility. It is hoped that this program can strengthen the character of students and increase their creativity in facing the challenges of the industrial revolution 4.0 and the era of society 5.0, while still upholding Islamic and educational values. Methods used to achieve this goal include: a) FGDs with partners; b) Dissemination of activities; c) Implementation of workshops to strengthen the capacity of student institutions; d) Assistance through the Website on emotional literacy ; and e) Monitoring and evaluation of activities. The result of this service activity is the implementation of several program collaborations, both face-to-face and hybrid. Among them: workshops related to organizational management and emotions for activist students, World Women's Day webinars in commemoration of International Women's Day, and International Seminars on graduate profiles of education study program students. In addition to the collaboration program between the student body of PAI UMY and LPI UM, in this service, a website on emotional literacy has also been released which is expected to be one of the media for the general public to improve emotional management and digital literacy skills, especially for both institutions.