Innovative and Sustainable Research-Based Learning & Community Services During Lockdown by COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe human suffering and substantial damage to life throughout the world. The lockdown caused by COVID-19 also significantly impacted three main elements in UGM education processes, including teaching, research, and community service, where most of their activities involving a large group of people, field, and outdoor programs. Innovation in learning, research, and community service without mobility from home is needed to overcome the impact of Covid-19. Methods of internet-based learning, research, and community service must be established during the pandemic to generate a reliable yet efficient blended program that can accommodate their outcomes. This paper will generally look at the initiative and strategy taken by UGM in planning and developing a sustainable research-based learning and community services. It is based on integrated research-based learning and community service, which integrates former individual education, research, and community service programs. The policy of considering COVID-19 as an emergency at UGM has eliminated teaching and learning activities on campus and replaced them with online learning activities from home. The application of the Three-Centra Education concept, which consists of families, schools, and communities, is truly relevant for developing research-based learning and service programs. Besides, academic and non-academic atmospheres to support integrated education, research, and community service processes in universities in the current era must be developed under millennial students’ style. The millennial approach's adjustment is possible by developing tutoring systems through student-centered learning with the edutainment process that triggers the learning system to be more enjoyable, but the quality is still maintained. This quality of online learning during an emergency in UGM has been improved based on conducted surveys indicating that the advantages of online lectures, according to students, are its flexibility and relaxation; no preparation needed to visit campus; more courageous to ask questions during lecture; most materials are well documented for rereading; time and cost-efficient. Meanwhile, online learning disadvantages covered the fact that the lectures confused with online assignments that caused an excessive workload; the lecturers need to be more interactive and communicative; the schedule should not be frequently changed until later evening, and decrease concentration ability among students. University leaders, the academic community, including alumni, have been building solidarity, compassion, and empathy through food assistance, credit, academic fee reduction, non-bureaucratic procedures for students affected by COVID-19. Co-learning system and work from home in the cyber campus 4.0 for the millennial student in the era of lockdown and destructive innovation with the support of sophisticated information technology and significant data access seems to be the most appropriate learning media. The empowerment online learning system must implement the principles of win–win solution, co-creation, co-finance, flexibility, and sustainability of the proposed programs to strengthen education's real meaning during this pandemic.