Elementary School Students’ Learning Motivation in Gemiring Lor Village during Online Learning

_______________________________________________________________ This study aims to determine elementary school students’ learning motivation in Gemiring Lor Village during online learning. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach. Informants who were the primary data sources were elementary school students and elementary school teachers in Gemiring Lor Village, Nalumsari District, Jepara Regency. Data were obtained through the process of observation, interviews, documentation, and recording. The validity test employed source triangulation techniques, and data analysis techniques were in the form of data reduction, data presentation, and data conclusion or verification. This study’s findings showed a difference in motivation between one and another student. The students’ motivation level was influenced by environmental factors, such as parents, family, and playmates. Besides, the Gemiring Lor Village teachers had a strategic role in motivating students during the online learning process. This study suggests a particular strategy from the school, teachers, parents, and the student environment to stabilize and increase their motivation.


INTRODUCTION
Education is an effort made by individuals in a planned manner to realize an effective learning process to educate students in developing their potential.However, currently, there are still problems in the world of education that can hinder achieving the expected goals.The problems in education must be solved, one of which concerns the problem of the quality of education.The quality of education is currently experiencing challenges because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.COVID-19 is a global pandemic whose spread is so worrying.As a result, the government must work together to reduce the rate of spread of the COVID-19 virus by issuing policies for all citizens to carry out social distancing.Thus, with this policy, all community activities that used to be carried out outside the home by gathering and in groups now have to be stopped for a moment and replaced with activities in their respective homes.
Various efforts have been made by various parties to break the chain of spreading the COVID-19 virus.One of the government's steps is to issue an official circular from the Ministry of Education and Culture Number 36962/MPK.A/HK/2020 regarding online learning and working from home to prevent transmission of COVID-19.With the official circular from the Ministry of Education and Culture, it is the beginning of online learning systems.
This situation certainly impacts the quality of learning.Students and teachers who previously interacted directly in the classroom now have to interact in a limited virtual space.Teachers are required to provide good teaching, create a conducive atmosphere for learning, and use interesting learning media creatively and innovatively so that students can understand learning material and learning objectives can be achieved by increasing student learning motivation.Dewi (2020) states that students can interact with teachers using several applications, such as classrooms, video conversion, telephone or live chat, zoom, or WhatsApp groups.This learning is an educational innovation to answer the challenges of the availability of varied learning resources.However, online learning in elementary schools is very simple, namely by using the WhatsApp application.In general, as Ashari revealed, some used the concept of online lectures, some continued to teach in class as usual but were videotaped and then sent to the student's WhatsApp application, and some also took advantage of free content from various sources.Those learning media are very influential on student learning motivation (https://www.pikiranrakyat.com/pendidikan/pr-01353818/).
According to Susanti in Strategi Pembelajaran Berbasis Motivasi [Motivation-Based Learning Strategy], motivation is the basic impetus that moves a person to enter a process and maintain his behavior until he achieves his goals.Therefore, learning motivation is crucial for every student, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Moreover, Handarini and Wulandari (2020) expressed that the development of information technology has a major influence on every field change.One of them is a change in the field of education.Technology can be used in teaching and learning activities, which can be said to be a change from conventional to modern.Sobron et al. (2019) said that online learning strategies are not only concerned with the internet but an essential aspect, namely "safer"; then, online learning can expand the learning community.Rigianti (2020) affirms that online learning is a new way to teach and learn through electronic devices, especially the Internet, in delivering learning.
The learning climate created by online learning also influences student learning motivation.In offline learning, the teacher can create a conducive classroom atmosphere to maintain student learning motivation so that learning can be achieved since the classroom climate significantly influences learning motivation.However, online learning conditions make it difficult for teachers to control and maintain the learning climate because they are limited in virtual space.This condition affects student motivation.Research conducted by David et al. (2014) showed that achievement motivation had a positive and statistically significant relationship with independent learning.Moreover, student motivation is very influential in the success of learning.According to Emda (2017), the learning process achieves success if students have good learning motivation.
As stated before, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic has made schools management, especially teachers, to be more creative in carrying out learning activities.Cahyani et al. (2020) stated that the COVID-19 outbreak requires that every learning activity be carried out online.Thus, teachers and students cannot meet face-to-face in the classroom but must be with information technology intermediaries.Through preresearch interviews conducted by the researchers with several teachers in Gemiring Lor Village, it was revealed that students' learning motivation varied during online learning.Some were motivated, and some were less motivated.The factors that caused students were unmotivated included the teacher's strategy in motivating students, the family environment, and the play environment.According to Warti (2016), students can get motivation from various directions, including from parents, society, teachers, and the media, both print and electronic media.For this reason, Juliya and Herlambang (2021) asserted that building student motivation is the main thing that teachers must do, especially in the current implementation of online learning.Teachers must be able to improve pedagogical competence to be able to carry out online learning well.
This study aimed to determine student learning motivation during online learning and how the teacher's strategy in motivating them.The benefit of this research is to enrich scientific knowledge and literacy in the field of education, especially during this pandemic (Fauziah & Fitriyah, 2020).As well, it is also an extension of advice to academics and the Education Office, which are still working to improve the education system in Indonesia in particular.Therefore, the authors are interested in following up on these problems to find out how student learning motivation during online learning and how the teacher's strategy is to motivate students amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

This research was conducted in Gemiring
Lor Village, RT01/RW06, Nalumsari District, Jepara Regency, using a qualitative, analytical, and descriptive approach.The research location was chosen because the researchers lived in that location and understood the circumstances that occurred regarding online learning for elementary schools.Besides, the researchers had a deeper view of the implementation of online learning for elementary school students in the environment so the researchers found a fit with the theme of the research being carried out.This study's main subjects or informants were six teachers and six students with the data analyzed and presented descriptively.
The data obtained by researchers were in the form of observation results, interview results, and documentation results, which were integrated and gradually carried out by the researchers.The interview outline by the researchers is presented in the following table.The data analysis technique was carried out using a descriptive approach.The data analysis process was conducted during the data collection process and after all the data had been collected.The data analysis process was done in three stages: (1) after all data had been collected through observation, interviews, and documentation, they were reduced by selecting the required core data, then simplifying it with descriptions and abstracting the data; (2) the presentation of data as a collection of information arranged systematically in the form of descriptions to make the process of concluding easier; (3) the process of drawing conclusions and verifying research results.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Before discussing the data analysis results, it is necessary to know in advance about categorization.Categorization was done to place individuals into groups.In this study, there were two categorizations used, namely motivated and unmotivated.Motivated or unmotivated students could be seen by the learning motivation indicator.Students were categorized as motivated if they showed attitudes like those in the learning motivation indicator.Uno in Teori Motivasi dan Pengukurannya: Analisis di Bidang Pendidikan [Theory of Motivation and Its Measurement: Analysis in the Field of Education] argued that the learning motivation indicators are as follows: (1) the desire and wish to succeed, (2) the motivation and need for learning, (3) the hope and aspirations of the future, (4) appreciation in learning, (5) the existence of interesting activities in learning, and (6) a conducive learning environment.Through pre-research interviews conducted by researchers with several teachers in Gemiring Lor Village, it was revealed that students' learning motivation varied during online learning.Some students were motivated, and some students were unmotivated.The following is a list of informants that the researchers researched.From the results in the table above, the six elementary school students in Gemiring Lor Village indicated that there were differences in motivation between one student and another.In this case, whether students were motivated or not was also influenced by the learning environment.Motivation is a driving force that converts energy within a person into actual activities to achieve specific goals, especially those caused by the environment, such as parents and family.
It is also supported by Saragi et al. (2016), stating that students' environmental conditions affected learning motivation; the students' environmental condition in question is parental support because parents in the family have a vital role in children.It is also confirmed by research carried out by Sari et al. (2018) that the parent's role is also one of the factors that affect student learning motivation.Choiri's (2017) research agrees that the environment has a significant influence on children's learning processes; all things and events that occur around children directly influence the children's formation and development.The students' environmental condition in question is parental support because parents in the family have a crucial role for children.In line with Sari et al. (2018), the parent's role is also one factor affecting student learning motivation.A supportive environment, such as parents who always provide facilities to support children in participating in online learning, can foster a sense of enthusiasm in children so that children are motivated to be serious about learning and doing assignments given by the teacher.
Children in Gemiring Lor Village who had high learning motivation at home admitted that they got maximum learning assistance.Not only learning assistance, but parents also facilitated online learning, such as buying quotas, providing smartphones, and some parents even bringing in private teachers to accompany their children as a substitute for parents who were busy working.
Providing facilities and giving parents time to assist children in learning also played a critical role in fostering learning motivation in children.Apart from the environment, teachers' strategies in teaching also affected student motivation (Fitriyani et al., 2020).The following are the researchers' results in examining teacher strategies for motivating student learning.The learning system used during the pandemic was a manual/offline online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
giving praise, giving gifts, knowing the results, stimulating learning in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning, forming good study habits 2 M Learning implementation: The learning system used during the pandemic was a manual or offline online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
giving praise, giving gifts, knowing the results, stimulating learning in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning, forming good study habits 3 SS Learning implementation: The learning system used during the pandemic was a manual/offline online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
giving praise, giving gifts, knowing the results, stimulating learning in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning, forming good study habits 4 NAF Learning implementation: The learning system used during the pandemic was an online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
knowing the results, generating motivation to learn in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning, forming good learning habits, the existence of competition, the existence of punishment 5 IP Learning implementation: The learning system used during the pandemic was an online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
-knowing the results -generating motivation to learn in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning -forming good learning habits -the existence of competition -the existence of punishment 6 SY Learning implementation: The learning system used during the pandemic was an online system.

Strategies for motivating children:
-knowing the results -generating motivation to learn in children in the form of enthusiasm for learning -forming good learning habits -the existence of competition -the existence of punishment From the description above, teachers in Desa Gemiring Lor implemented an online learning process and manual/offline online learning during the pandemic.It reinforces Malyana (2020) that online learning is one way of overcoming educational problems regarding learning implementation.By definition, offline learning system is a learning system that requires face-to-face learning.The teachers applied a manual/offline online learning system for the lower classes as the children had to face the teacher, especially the first grade; most first graders were still unable to read and count.
The data results obtained by the researchers uncovered that teachers in Gemiring Lor Village used several strategies to foster children's learning motivation during the online learning process during this pandemic.who mentioned several strategies that teachers can use to foster student motivation: (1) explaining learning objectives to students, (2) prizes, (3) competition, (4) praise, (5) punishment, (6) arousing encouragement to students to learn, (7) forming good learning habits, (8) ego-involvement, (9) knowing the results, and (10) interest.Of the several strategies carried out, the results shown were different for each student, where there were children who were willing to receive input and direction from the teacher, and some were not.It was because each child's motivation to learn and potential was different.It is proportion to Puspitasari (2012) that each student has different learning motivations in the learning process; some students have high learning motivation, and some have low learning motivation.Besides, students' motivation to learn is also influenced by anxiety, as said by Vivin et al. (2019), in their research, that the higher the anxiety, the lower the motivation to learn; and conversely, the lower the anxiety, the higher the motivation to learn.
The description of interview results also explained the complaints experienced by teachers, parents, and children.The complaint from the teacher is, for instance, not being used to distance learning.Some teachers had difficulty using internet technology, and the delivery of the material was not optimal because there was no interaction between teachers and children.In addition to the teacher's complaints, complaints were also felt by parents, such as always having to accompany children when learning and wasteful quotas (Erni et al., 2020).Children also felt complaints, such as getting bored because they were always at home and not studying with friends like before the pandemic.In line with research from Erni et al. (2020), students felt bored at home; besides being felt by children, teachers also felt that they were not used to distance learning, and with distance learning, teachers needed time to adapt.For this reason, online learning strategies in elementary schools need to be developed persuasively, as stated by Suryaningsih (2020) that the implication of applying online learning models with persuasive strategies in distance learning is that there is a process of interaction between students and teachers and the learning environment to produce a behavior change; change from initially lazy in responding toward responding positively.

CONCLUSION
This study's results indicated that the learning system used during the pandemic was an online system and manual/offline online learning.However, after a new normal policy regarding the new normal, schools began to simulate face-to-face lessons starting from grade 4 to grade 6 while still paying attention to health protocols, such as wearing masks, maintaining distance, and washing hands with soap before entering the classroom.The strategies carried out by teachers during this pandemic in the online learning process to foster children's motivation included 1) arousing children's interest, (2) giving praise, (3) giving encouragement, (4) giving punishment, and (5) giving an appraisal.The efforts made by the teacher showed different results for children, where there were children who were willing to receive input and direction from the teacher, and some were not.It is because the enthusiasm for learning and the potential that each child has is different.
Elementary school children in Gemiring Lor Village showed differences between one child and another, where there were children who had sufficient motivation, and there were also children who had low motivation.It could also be seen from the interview results conducted by researchers, that the children's environment also greatly influenced their motivation.A supportive environment, such as parents who always provide facilities to support children in participating in online learning, can foster a sense of enthusiasm in children so that children are motivated to be serious about learning and doing assignments given by the teacher.Meanwhile, for children who have low motivation, it is usually caused by their environment not being very supportive for learning, such as parents who tend to be ignorant, do not accompany them because they are busy working, or do not understand the material being studied.

Table 1 .
Investigated Aspects of Research

Table 2 .
Student Informant Data

Table 3 .
Student's Motivation to Study

Table 4 .
Children's Motivation Factors During Online Learning

Table 5 .
Teacher's Strategy for Motivating Students