Official Site: Ronal Rifandi

Sarunai Ombak Nan Badabua.

Ajo Ronal~ Jejak Petualangan

Alam Takambang Jadi Guru. Mozaik kelana dari balik lensa.

(click) SCIENCECLOPEDIA

Whether you like it or not, mathematics is everywhere.

Catatan Si Jho

My daily Journal~ avonturen in de wildernis van het leven.

The Rifandi

Pictures of a Daily Life Journey (2023-...).

Showing posts with label LPDP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LPDP. Show all posts

18/11/2023

PhD Journey: How to find a potential supervisor

Berikut ini sharing pengalaman saya tentang bagaimana mencari calon supervisor.

Bisa teman-teman jadikan gambaran untuk yang mau meniti jalan PhD di LN.


Untuk contoh email yang bisa dikirim saat menghubungi calon supervisor dapat teman-teman lihat pada link berikut: https://www.ronalrifandi.com/2023/05/contoh-email-untuk-mencari-calon.html

Berikut link IG Edlink Connect Padang, Agen Pendidikan terpercaya yang membantu proses saya: Edlink+ConneX Padang (@edlinkconnexpadang) • Instagram photos and videos 



18/05/2023

Contoh email untuk mencari Calon Supervisor PhD / S3

 Semangat pejuang beasiswa

Semoga senantiasa sehat dan penuh berkah. Salam kompak dalam perjuangan. Allahu Akbar.

Berikut saya share draft isian email yang saya dapatkan dari temannya Angel. Tapi saya lupa nama beliau siapa dan ini sudah pernah beliau posting juga kayanya di Internet. 

Tapi benar-benar lupa. sedangkan teman-teman sudah banyak yang bertanya tentang ini.

______
teman-teman pejuang juga bisa nyari di google kok. atau juga di chat GPT. jadi sudah tak terlalu susah lah.

Namun begitu biar blog ini juga ada kontennya, dan saya juga jadi lebih simple jika ada teman yang nanya atau minta kasih contoh gimana saya dulu approach supervisor, nah this is it.

Sekali lagi terimakasih untuk teman yang sudah berkenan ngasih contoh ini dulu ke saya. semoga jadi amal ibadah yang bernilai pahala.

Biar semakin banyak tabungan pahalanya, maka saya share disini biar yang lain juga bisa jadikan draft contoh untuk di edit dan dimodifikasi lebih lanjut sesuai kebutuhan.
_________________________________


Dear Professor ..........................

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Ronal Rifandi, I am a lecturer in the Mathematics Education Study Program of Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia. I graduated in 2014 from a master degree program from Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia, in collaboration with University of Utrecht, Netherlands.

I am writing to you because I am very keen on continuing my study for a Ph.D degree at the University of ................. For this reason, I need potential supervisor  who willingly supervises my study at the university.  Would you be interested to be my supervisor? For your consideration, my research topic is about developing STEM based teaching materials to enhance pre-service mathematics teachers' higher order thinking skills. I attached the research proposal in this email along with my CV, Academic certificate and transcript, and also my IELTS certificate. This year, I am applying for Australia Awards Scholarship and also Scholarships from Indonesian Government. 

Thank you very much for your attention and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Ronal Rifandi
Mathematics Education Study Program
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Padang
Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia

Lampiran:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nah itu contoh email sederhananya.

Saya telah memulai ini sejak tamat S2 dan mulai jadi dosen honor di kampus swasta.

__________________
Teruntuk anak cucuku tersayang,
berikut dokumentasi rekam jejak perjuangan abimu ini mencari supervisor.







Screenshoot di atas bukan hanya 2 email itu saja, ada email-email lain di antara rentang waktu itu, hingga dapat Loa dan lulus Budi di tahun 2018. Namun belum jadi mulai study.

Berikutnya yang di bawah ini adalah perjuangan mencari supervisor yang akhirnya berujung pada Deakin Uni di tahun 2023. Banyak diantara nya yang dicueki saja oleh orang yang dituju. hiks hiks. yang hany "me" saja artinya diabaikan , ga direspon. yang ada angka 2 atau 3 disebelah "me" itu berarti direspon dengan penolakan, :D.

Nah yang angka nya lebih dari 3 di belakang "me" artinya itu yang dapat respon positif, ada yang ngajak diskusi, ada yang ngajak zoom, ada yang berujung pada LoA. Alhamdulillah


Semangaattttt






01/04/2023

Riset Proposal untuk apply S3 (semampunya)

(PDF) Developing STEM Based Teaching Materials to Enhance Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers’ Higher Order Thinking Skills (researchgate.net) (2022)

(PDF) The Development of Numeracy Skills in Indonesian Primary School Students (researchgate.net) (2018)

Hi everyone.



Afwan nih, kelewat pede barangkali. dan para suhu akan tertawa melihat apa lah yang dibuat si Ronal ko ko ha. PD lo upload tu.

Hokkeh, jika demikian adanya postingan ini tidak ditujukan untuk para suhu.

Postingan ini ditujukan pada teman-teman seperjuangan yang sedang berusaha untuk approach calon supervisor, aplly loa dari kampus maupun apply beasiswa. (dan rekam jejak sejarah untuk anak cucuku bani Rifandi nanti).


Diantara banyak contoh luar biasa di luar sana, saya juga ingin berkontribusi membagi apa yang saya buat saat dahulu mendaftar beasiswa dan LoA.

Saya sadar sesadar-sadarnya bahwa ini jauh dari sempurna. hanya karena izin Allah semata dua proposal ini pernah berhasil mengantarkan saya meraih loa dan beasiswa.

Proposal (2018) berawal dari kegiatan Talent scouting, terimakasih para mentor, semoga jadi amal ibadah buat para mentor dan panitia saat itu. Proposal ini kemudian saya jajakan dari barat ke timur, dari utara ke selatan. dan alhamdulillah berujung Loa Unconditional dari Deakin Uni dan Beasiswa Budi LN LPDP. (Namun saat itu karena satu dan lain hal belum bisa memulai S3 sampai habis masa tenggang yang disediakan).

Proposal (2022) pun menjalani perjalanan panjang dan berliku. Melanglang buana dari email ke email. Proposal ini pernah membuat saya menjalani interview zoom dari calon supervisor dari University of Melbourne (diberi masukan untuk revisi) dan Universiti Malaya (alhamdulillah dapat LoA unconditional). Dan akhirnya ia pun menjumpai takdirnya. Alhamdulillah saat ini saya sedang menjalani tahun pertama di Deakin University.

_________
Cttn. buat teman-teman yang sedang tertatih-tatih menyusun proposalnya, jangan terlalu khawatir, toh saat pertemuan kedua bimbingan, everything berganti kok, penyesuaian disana sini. Sampai akhirnya tak sebarispun yang terpakai di proposal baru yang sedang di susun saat telah mulai kuliah disini :D (setidak nya sejauh ini)

11/03/2023

Contoh Essai untuk Apply Beasiswa LPDP dan BPI (Bagian 5)

LAnjuuuuuut..... (BPI)

E.Kekuatan/Kelebihan (Strong Point) Yang Dimiliki (Max 1500 kata)

When talking about my strengths, I can convey three main things in this essay, namely responsibility, discipline and being skilled as a good listener.

First, I am someone who places great importance on responsibility in every aspect of my life. I really appreciate the trust given by others which is why I don't want to disappoint the trust given. Responsibility is the essence of life, how a person is responsible for himself, his family, nation and country. Why do I pay so much attention to this point of responsibility? This is because I believe in my faith that later we will be held accountable for everything we do. For me this life is something that must be accounted for. Therefore, I always try to run it as best as possible in accordance with the applicable rules and values.

Second, discipline is the key to success. I have a high discipline attitude. This has been cultivated since childhood by my parents. I was taught how to value time and manage it well. I am used to making a priority scale in carrying out my work and activities. This is what I really need as a lecturer at a university, with so many jobs to do starting from teaching, researching, serving the community and supporting tasks, all of which require discipline. I am sure that the discipline that I have will be able to support my success in completing the doctoral studies that I am applying for.

Third, I am a good listener. I tend to be inactive in scrambling to speak on many occasions, unless given the opportunity to speak. In my opinion, currently too many people are talking even to the point of talking on topics that are outside their field and expertise. Listening attitudes need to be developed so that we are able to examine better and think to provide solutions or responses to what we hear. Listening that I mean is not passive, but hearing this will be followed up with active, logical and rational actions. As an educator, the ability to be a good listener will have a positive influence on the my students.

Those are the three strengths I have with which I believe I can live this life more meaningfully. As a lecturer I will contribute to the progress of my institution by maximizing these three main points. These three things must also be developed by the younger generation so that they can contribute maximally to our nation and country, Indonesia. 

 

F. Kelemahan/Kekurangan (Weak Point) Yang Dimiliki (Max 1500 kata)

Nobody is perfect, including me. If previously I wrote about my three strengths, then in this section I will describe the three weaknesses that I have.

First, I am a shy person therefore I find it difficult to actively show my ability in front of others or being the centre of attention in a place that is new to me. I need comfortable conditions and situations to omit my shyness. This sometimes becomes a barrier for me in developing myself.

Second, I am used to focusing on one activity at a time. When I'm focused, I will be someone who is indifferent to other things and tends not to be disturbed by other people. On the one hand, there is a positive value, namely that the work being carried out gets maximum attention and is not easily distracted by other things. But the weakness is that I tend to find it difficult to multitask at the same time. If my focus has been disturbed, then I will need to work harder to refocus on the work I am doing. This is what makes me as much as possible try to ignore other things outside the work that is being done. As a result, many people see me as an ignorant person.

Third, it is hard for me to give second chances to people who have betrayed the trust I gave them. Since I really value responsibility for the trust that other people place in me, I also expect others to do the same to me when I trust them. When someone disappoints me by betraying the trust I gave, then I will find it difficult to give the person a second chance. Even if given, my assessment of him is different and no longer the same as before.

Those are the three weaknesses that I have. I always try to fix these weaknesses. I try to turn it become a challenge that should be able to make me be a better person. I practice to stay sensitive to the situation even though I'm focused on a job. I practice to regain focus quickly. I also try to objectively judge others and open up opportunities to give trust back to others on the basis that everyone changes and strives for the better.

 G.Pengalaman Membanggakan (Max 1500 kata)

Experience is a valuable teacher. Experiences are also memories that people will be remembered and told to their children and grandchildren as well as those closest to them.

Many valuable experiences accompany the process of my life. One of my proud experiences was when I won a scholarship to take part in a master's program at one of the world's best universities in the Netherlands, namely Utrecht University. When I was in my school age, I didn't expect to have the opportunity to study in a faraway country before. Therefore, I really appreciate this opportunity.

Not only studying on campus, I also got the opportunity to live in a foreign place with a different culture, environment and values from what I had so far. I can learn about tolerance, democracy and an open mind with full responsibility. Living far from my homeland opened my eyes and mind to be prouder and in love with my homeland, Indonesia. I am proud of the nobility of the culture that I have that is not shared by other nations that I visit.

I am proud to be an Indonesian child who is able to be on par with other children in developed countries in gaining knowledge. And with that pride, I returned to my homeland and was determined to continue to spread the knowledge I had gained so that other Indonesian children would also be able to excel and take opportunities to explore the world to become Indonesian ambassadors in the midst of the world community. I started doing this by motivating the students I teach to also prepare for global competition, one of which motivates them to prepare for further study abroad.

H. Pengalaman Kurang Membanggakan (Max 1500 kata)

In addition to a proud experience, I also have a less than proud experience.

In 2018 I applied for one of the scholarships for doctoral studies. I've struggled to fulfil all the requirements set, Finally I managed to pass to the final stage and take part in training and preparation for departure. At that time, I also received an unconditional Letter of Acceptance (LoA) at my destination university overseas. Everyone has congratulated me and always asked me when I would start the PhD program.

But reality says the otherwise, I didn't go to use the scholarship and LoA that I got. This is because at the same time I passed the test as a new CPNS lecturer at Universitas Negeri Padang. I chose to comply with the rules for completing my training period and serving first at the institution where I worked. I prioritize to serve first and give up my scholarship. However, I took this decision after consulting with relevant parties including the scholarship provider so that no party was harmed.

Getting a scholarship is a proud achievement, but not going to study is a less than encouraging experience. For me, this is a sign that sometimes, not everything can in line with our will. Sometimes we have to choose something and sacrifice something else. But most importantly we can take lessons from everything that occurs in this life.

 

I. Hal-Hal yang Pernah Dilakukan dan Disesali Sampai Saat Ini (Max 1500 kata)

Talking about regret, one of the things I've ever done and regretted until now is being too focused on work so I missed the moment to accompany my wife in giving birth to my son.

At that time my wife's pregnancy had entered the waiting period for birth. We agreed to go to our village because my wife chose to give birth in my hometown, a place about 3 hours away from the city where I live and work. I was actually allowed to work from home during the waiting period for my son. But with the reason that I focus more on working in the office, then I still go to work at the office.

I planned that when my wife was about to give birth, I would immediately travel 3 hours back to my hometown to accompany my wife. The calculations are still a few days away. But the time of birth is something that can be sooner or later than predicted. And what happened was that my wife gave birth earlier than predicted.

As a result, when my wife was about to give birth, I was still in the office. Hearing the news from my family, I rushed home by using public transportation. In my calculations I should still be able to, but the reality on the ground, the journey is not as smooth as usual. There was a traffic jam and the trip took longer than it should have. Finally, my wife gave birth to my son only accompanied by my family without my presence. When I arrived at the hospital, my wife had already given birth and I could only apologize, unable to accompany her at this critical time.

I regret this and promise not to do it again in the future. I will try to prioritize being with my family, especially at important times like the birth of a child.


_---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sekian, semoga 5 postingan bisa menjawab pertanyaan teman-teman tentang apa yang says tulis saat isi aplikasi.

Sekali lagi ini bukan jawaban terbaik dan paling bagus dan paling tepat. Banyak bahasa dan pilihan kata serta kalimat yang lucu jika dibaca kembali. Tapi ya sudahlah... yang berlalu biarlah berlalu.

Ini hanyalah tulisan yang mampu says buat saat mengisi aplikasi beasiswa LPDP (2018) dan BPI (2022)

Semoga bermanfaat.
 

Contoh Essai untuk Apply Beasiswa LPDP dan BPI (Bagian 4) Personal Statement

 Lanjuuuttttt.... (ini yang saya pakai untuk BPI deh kayanya)

_______
D. FOR BPI Application


PERSONAL STATEMENT (BPI)

Ronal Rifandi

My name is Ronal Rifandi. I am a lecturer in Mathematics Education study program at Universitas Negeri Padang. I took my bachelor degree of education at Universitas Negeri Padang and then continued it with an International Master Program on Mathematics Education. This program was a collaboration between Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Indonesia) and Utrecht University (The Netherlands).

In this letter I will explain about “my contribution”. In my point of view, contribution is the hearth of my success. When I said “success” it is not only about myself, but also about the positive effects I can give to the community. In the following I will point out some activities that I have already done, the things I currently work in and the vision of my contribution in the future. Then, I will describe about my dream of Indonesia in the future along with my role in reaching that dream.

To begin with, I started to realize that ones really cannot live without others when I was in junior high school. It was the time when I started to define myself. I came up with a conclusion that being clever in the classroom only is not enough to face the world. Therefore, I joined with several students’ organizations. When I was in my undergraduate university I ever be the chairman of a student association. Together with my team, we conducted several programs that gave effect not only for the students in my department but also to the people outside the institution. For example, when there was a big earthquake happened in Padang (2009) our association also took part in the trauma healing process. Another example of I and my association contribution to the community was that we conducted a voluntary teaching for children in an orphan house.

Furthermore, in my current carrier as a lecturer, I actively contribute in the three main duties of Indonesian lecturer namely, teaching, conducting research and community services. In term of teaching, I am one of the lecturers who is given responsibility by the university to teach in the international class. To support my teaching, especially when the pandemic covid-19 attack our country, I manage to develop learning videos to support my students during the distance learning and I disseminate it through my youtube channel. Moreover, in term of research, in the past 5 years I got research funding from my university and also one from overseas institution.  In addition, I am also active in publishing scientific papers, both in international conference proceedings indexed by Scopus and in accredited national journals. In the field of community services, I am involved in various activities which main purpose is to provide support to teachers in schools related to teaching and learning mathematics in accordance with my scientific field. One example of this activity is my participation in the activities of the driving organization which is the flagship program of the Kemendikbudristek. Through this program, we assist elementary school teachers in designing and applying innovative learning based on a realistic mathematics education approach.

I realized that as an academician, I need to continue to improve my scientific capacity. For that I am trying to find a scholarship to continue my studies at the doctoral level. I plan to take a higher degree by research in mathematics education at Deakin University, Australia. I already joint with a pre departure program conducted by Deakin University and Andalas University in 2015. I got a completion certificate declare that I already completed the module of language intensive, developing academic study skills, academic writing workshop, cultural introduction, preparing a PhD application, and English Language Testing. I also already have correspondence with my potential supervisors from Deakin to discuss about my research topic. Further, I got the offer to continue my study there. The only condition stated in my Letter of Offer is about the funding. When I got a scholarship, I can start as the PhD student at Deakin University.

There are at least two reasons for me to choose Deakin University as the place to take a PhD. First, regarding the area of research and the potential supervisor availability, I found that there are experts at the mathematics education department of Deakin University that also concern about integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in education. This is the area of study that I propose in my research proposal. Some of them also have a connection or ever work together on a project with my previous supervisors from Indonesia and also from the Netherlands. The second reason to choose Deakin University is because the Deakin University provides several offers for their students such as the quality of the degree, the lively campus atmosphere, the flexibility of the learning methods used, the focus for the career and also it has won numerous awards.

Last but not the least, I will keep the agreement I made when asked the permission to apply for the scholarship with the chairman of my institution. The agreement that I will back to Indonesia and continue my job as a lecturer. When I can finish and get a PhD degree from overseas, I hope that I can improve my ability in conducting the Tri Dharma of a higher education institution. In terms of teaching, I will share and adapt the good academic atmosphere I got and enrich it with the initial value that we already have. In conditions of research and community service, I plan to create connections between the researchers in my institution and the researchers from other countries (may be my PhD supervisors and my PhD fellows). In a more specific way, since my research will be about designing learning instructions in teaching mathematics, I plan to initiate a kind of a center for the development of mathematics learning materials in my institution. The center where I can work together with experts and college students to produce study or research in order to help teachers to improve the quality of their teaching.

Komitmen Kembali ke Indonesia dan Rencana Kontribusi di Indonesia Pasca Studi (Max 1500 kata)

 

I commit to comeback to Indonesia after finishing my study. Further, I will describe about my vision of the contribution that I could give in the future. When I can finish and get a PhD degree from overseas, I hope that I can improve my ability in conducting the Tri Dharma of a higher education institution. In terms of teaching, I will share and adapt the good academic atmosphere I got and enrich it with the initial value that we already have. In terms of research and community service, I plan to make connections between the researchers in my institution and the researchers from other countries (may be my PhD supervisors and my PhD fellows). In a more specific way, since my research will be about designing learning instructions in teaching mathematics, I plan to initiate a kind of a center for the development of mathematics learning materials in my institution. The center where I can work together with experts and college students to produce study or research in order to help teachers to improve the quality of their teaching.

Furthermore, I dreamed of Indonesia as a country with a high development in technology and can be a leader in the region. I dreamed of a country where globalization can live side by side with traditional culture, value and local wisdom. And the most important point is about being a better place to live in for me, us and our next generation.

Relating to the dream I mentioned above, I will dedicate myself to support the development mainly in educational field and in the character building of the people. This is fit with my role as a lecturer. In order to reach the dream, at least i can contribute by doing the three following actions. First, I will integrate the teaching and learning in my classroom with the use of technology and internet based. I also will try to design learning materials involving technology to support my students in reaching the larning goals. Second, I will also concern on using local value and culture as the integrated part of the learning process. And third, I will continue to take part on community development activities in order to support young generation in preparing their future life.

Based on the explanation above, contribution should be an important part of our “success”. Hopefuly, the contribution I did in my life will stay longer than my age. Then, I will keep in my mind that the success I get will remain nothing if it is not contribute anything to the community and our nation, Indonesia.


Contoh Essai untuk Apply Beasiswa LPDP dan BPI (Bagian 3): My great success

 Kita lanjutkan ke file berikutnya ya:

_______

C. My Greatest Success

A success, one word that has many different meanings. Although, we can find the definition of it in the dictionary, I believe that everybody has their own sentences to write about it. Some people may define success philosophically, but for me success is just simple. I define success when I can reach what I am dreaming of, when I can make my family proud of it and when I can give a contribution to others. However, at most the process I pass through to gain success is not as simple as what I defined beforehand. One example of that is what I am going to describe in this essay. It is about my story in finishing a master program which conducted by a cooperation between DIKTI Indonesia and STUNED The Netherlands. 

To begin with, I will write about my background. I was born not in a rich family. My mother is an elementary teacher and my father was a construction laborer. When I was a child, I ever heard my mom said that being a teacher is a great profession, at least there are two reasons. First, she believes that the God will gives reward for people who share knowledge with others even when they already passed away. Second, the world will need teachers all the time, so there will always job available for them. These two reasons brought me to take a bachelor degree of education. But, instead of being a teacher, I planed to be a lecturer and dreamed about continuing study abroad.

At that time I interested to apply for an International Master Program on Mathematics Education (IMPoME) scholarship. This is a collaboration between Utrecht University, Unsri and Unesa. It was funded by DIKTI and STUNED. There were three steps of selection: interviews with the Indonesian professor, workshop and interview with the Dutch lecturer, and the IELTS. After finishing the second step, there were about thirty candidates (including me) who could continue to the last step. The committee divided us into two groups to get the IELTS preparation course, fourteen candidates went to Unesa Surabaya and the rest went to Unsri Palembang. The condition of the scholarship was it should be at least ten persons got the total band 6.5 with the writing score 6 or more.

The IELTS preparation was the hardest phase of the selection for me and might also for my colleagues. Within four months, we had class 6 days a week and 8 hours a day. However, the exact time we used was more than that. It seemed that the whole week full of IELTS things. We practiced English all the time, at home, at the cafeteria, at the mosque, everywhere. We made a rule that in the classroom, we should speak in English, when we used other languages we should pay fine. After four months we took an IELTS test, only two persons got 6.5 but the writing is below 6. Therefore, we should take the second test a couple weeks later. Fortunately, ten of us fulfilled the criteria and could go to the Netherlands.

The IELTS preparation phase taught me about hard work, focus and togetherness. It also made me realize that do not underestimate a tiny obstacle. Sometimes it could block you from your dream like the 0.5 in the IELTS score that make some of my friends could not go to Utrecht University, because they just get 6. They could not get the chance to experience living and studying in Europe.

I thank God for giving me such wonderful experience in studying outside Indonesia. It was hard in the beginning, since I should adapt to a very different culture both in daily life and academic life. Nevertheless, finally one year at Utrecht university was done and then I went back to Indonesia to finish the thesis in Unesa Surabaya.

At the end, I got my Master of Science degree and I declare that this is one of the greatest success in my life. I can reach my dream to study abroad and my family proud of it. In addition, I am a lecturer now, with my position and experience I can give my contribution as a part of the development of Indonesian generation.

Contoh Essai untuk Apply Beasiswa LPDP dan BPI (Bagian 2): Statement of purpose

 Lanjutan dari Psotingan sebelumnya,

lagi-lagi saya ingin sampaikan, Isi postingan ini murni saya ambilkan dari file word draft-draft yang ada di laptop yang saya pakai untuk apply LPDP di tahun 2017 dan BPI di tahun 2022. Urutan dan bahasanya mungkin menyesuaikan dengan waktu saat tulisan ini dibuat.

Gaya bahasa, pilihan kata dan grammar nya mohon dimaklumi saja. Inti yang ingin saya bagikan adalah tentang konten apa yang saya isikan saat itu ke web aplikasi beasiswanya.

___________________

B. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES 

(mirip-mirip isinya kayaknya dengan yang sebelumnya, entahlah, yang jelas di file saya ada yang judulnya seperti ini, saya copy kan utuh kesini ya.)

Statement of Purpose: My Contribution to Indonesia

My name is Ronal Rifandi, I am a lecturer in STKIP Adzkia, Padang. I took my bachelor degree of education in Universitas Negeri Padang and then continued it with an International Master Program on Mathematics Education. This program was a collaboration between Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Indonesia) and Utrecht University ( The Netherlands).

My contribution: in the past, the present and my plan in the future.

In this essay I will explain about “my contribution”. In my point of view, contribution is the hearth of my success. When I said “success” it is not only about myself, but also about the positive effects I can give to the community. In the following I will point out some activities that I have already done, the things I currently work in and the vision of my contribution in the future. Then, I will describe about my dream of Indonesia in the future along with my role in reaching that dream.

To begin with, I started to realize that ones really cannot live without others when I was in junior high school. It was the time when I started to define myself. I came up with a conclusion that being clever in the classroom only is not enough to face the world. Therefore, I joined with several students’ organizations. When I was in my undergraduate university I ever be the chairman of a student association. Together with my team, we conducted several programs that gave effect not only for the students in my department but also to the people outside the institution. For example, when there was a big earthquake happened in Padang (2009) our association also took part in the trauma healing process. Another example of I and my association contribution to the community was that we conducted a voluntary teaching for children in an orphan house.

Furthermore, currently, as a lecturer in STKIP Adzkia, my contribution mainly on the part of education and research. I also appointed as a chairman of a new study program in STKIP Adzkia, Mathematics Education. As part of my job, I have been contributed in establishing the operational procedure of this study program and managing the development of the program.

In term of research, I ever give a tutorial to my colleague on how to use some useful websites on the internet to support them in research. For example how to get a google scholar and SINTA account, also on how to sign in and optimize the use of researchgate site. Further, in my institution, I am also the person in charge to supervise the students’ organization board. Through this position I am supporting the college students to be active and to be creative in conducting their programs.

Moreover, in the society, I contribute as the coordinator of Human Resources Development department in “Jaringan Pemuda dan Remaja Masjid Indonesia (JPRMI) Padang”. This is an organization that concern to connect the youth generation from mosques, support their character building and synergize their potential energy. I believe that by doing this I could take part in giving effort to the development of human resources in our country. It will maximize the role of mosque as one of the elements that could be used to defend our NKRI. Since, nowadays we afraid that our next generation takes a wrong ways of expressing their faith. Because they do not get the appropriate education about it.

The last but not the least, I will talk about my vision of the contribution that I could give in the future. When I can finish and get a PhD degree from overseas, I hope that I can improve my ability in conducting the Tri Dharma of a higher education institution. In terms of teaching, I will share and adapt the good academic atmosphere I got and enrich it with the initial value that we already have. In terms of research and community service, I plan to make connections between the researchers in my institution and the researchers from other countries (may be my PhD supervisors and my PhD fellows). In a more specific way, since my research will be about designing learning instructions in teaching mathematics, I plan to initiate a kind of a center for the development of mathematics learning materials in my institution. The center where I can work together with experts and college students to produce study or research in order to help teachers to improve the quality of their teaching.

My dream for Indonesia

I dreamed of Indonesia as a country with a high development in technology and can be a leader in the region. I dreamed of a country where globalization can live side by side with traditional culture, value and local wisdom. And the most important point is about being a better place to live in for me, us and our next generation.

Relating to the dream I mentioned above, I will dedicate myself to support the development mainly in educational field and in the character building of the people. This is fit with my role as a lecturer. In order to reach the dream, at least i can contribute by doing the three following actions. First, I will integrate the teaching and learning in my classroom with the use of technology and internet based. I also will try to design learning materials involving technology to support my students in reaching the larning goals. Second, I will also concern on using local value and culture as the integrated part of the learning process. And third, I will continue to take part on community development activities in order to support young generation in preparing their future life.

Based on the explanation above, contribution should be an important part of our “success”. Hopefuly, the contribution I did in my life will stay longer than my age. Then, I will keep in my mind that the success I get will remain nothing if it is not contribute anything to the community and our nation, Indonesia.


(Saat buka kembali dan baca file in says jadi ketawa sendiri melihat bahasa Inggrisnya, dilaptoppun banyak muncul garis merah hijau dan biru (Kok saat itu ga bisa kedetek ya, atau karena belum mahir, jadi ga aktif trackernya di word)

 





Contoh Essai untuk Apply Beasiswa LPDP dan BPI (Bagian 1): Personal Statement

 Judul postingan ini memang begitu menggugah. Mencerminkan tingkat PD yang tinggi.
Ah biarlah, toh ini blog saya yang punya. Tempat menuliskan ini dan itu dan lain sebagainya.

Selama tidak menyinggung orang lain, maka saya akan pd saja untuk menuliskan apa yang ingin saya share.
________________Demikian disclaimer untuk postingan di blog ini.


ALhamdulillah setelah perjalanan panjang dan melelahkan, dengan penuh rasa syukur akhirnya saya bisa memulai study phd di bulan februari 2023. Tepatnya tanggal 14 February saya sampai di Bumi Allah Melbourne dengan selamat Alhamdulillah.
Cerita tentang ini kapan-kapan lah saya tulis. Mari kita fokus dulu ke judul ini.

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Banyak diantara teman-teman saya yang juga sedang berjuang untuk mendapatkan beasiswa dan sebagai orang yang telah Allah berikan kesempatan untuk memperoleh beasiswa lebih dahulu, saya banyak ditanyai oleh teman-teman tentang tips dan trik nya. Salah satunya tentang essay ataupun jawaban untuk beberapa pertanyaan yang biasanya ditanyakan di beasiswa.

Untuk itu saya berniat untuk membagikannya disini.

Ini bukanlah tulisan yang bagus dan ideal, bukan pula contoh yang benar dan paling top. Ini murni hanyalah tulisan yang saya gunakan saat apply beasiswa dan LoA sejak tahun 2018 lalu. Tulisan ini saya padu padankan seadanya dan semampu saya saat itu. Gaya bahasa dan juga tata kalimat serta diksi nya mungkin hanya apalah-apalah.

Tapi setidaknya tulisan-tulisan ini yang pernah mengantarkan saya lulus beasiswa LPPD pada tahun 2018 (PK 139 Dipamartani PK-139 DIPAMARTANI (@pk139lpdp) • Instagram photos and videos) dan lulus beasiswa BPI Kemdikbudristek 2022.

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A. PERSONAL STATEMENT

My name is Ronal Rifandi. I am a lecturer in Mathematics Education study program at Universitas Negeri Padang. I took my bachelor degree of education at Universitas Negeri Padang and then continued it with an International Master Program on Mathematics Education. This program was a collaboration between Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Indonesia) and Utrecht University (The Netherlands).

In this letter I will explain about “my contribution”. In my point of view, contribution is the hearth of my success. When I said “success” it is not only about myself, but also about the positive effects I can give to the community. In the following I will point out some activities that I have already done, the things I currently work in and the vision of my contribution in the future. Then, I will describe about my dream of Indonesia in the future along with my role in reaching that dream.

To begin with, I started to realize that ones really cannot live without others when I was in junior high school. It was the time when I started to define myself. I came up with a conclusion that being clever in the classroom only is not enough to face the world. Therefore, I joined with several students’ organizations. When I was in my undergraduate university I ever be the chairman of a student association. Together with my team, we conducted several programs that gave effect not only for the students in my department but also to the people outside the institution. For example, when there was a big earthquake happened in Padang (2009) our association also took part in the trauma healing process. Another example of I and my association contribution to the community was that we conducted a voluntary teaching for children in an orphan house.

Furthermore, in my current carrier as a lecturer, I actively contribute in the three main duties of Indonesian lecturer namely, teaching, conducting research and community services. In term of teaching, I am one of the lecturers who is given responsibility by the university to teach in the international class. To support my teaching, especially when the pandemic covid-19 attack our country, I manage to develop learning videos to support my students during the distance learning and I disseminate it through my youtube channel. Moreover, in term of research, in the past 5 years I got research funding from my university and also one from overseas institution.

In addition, I am also active in publishing scientific papers both in Scopus-indexed international seminar proceedings and in accredited national journals. In community service, I am involved in various activities whose primary purpose is to support teachers in schools related to learning mathematics in accordance with my scientific field. One example of the activity is my participation in the activities of the driving organization, which is the flagship program of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Through this program, we assist elementary school teachers in designing and implementing innovative learning based on realistic mathematics approaches.

I plan to take a higher degree by research in mathematics education at Deakin University, Australia. I already joint with a pre departure program conducted by Deakin University and Andalas University in 2015. I got a completion certificate declare that I already completed the module of language intensive, developing academic study skills, academic writing workshop, cultural introduction, preparing a PhD application, and English Language Testing. I also already have correspondence with my potential supervisors from Deakin to discuss about my research topic. Further, I got the offer to continue my study there. The only condition stated in my Letter of Offer is about the funding. When I got a scholarship, I can start as the PhD student at Deakin University.

There are at least two reasons for me to choose Deakin University as the place to take a PhD. First, regarding the area of research and the potential supervisor availability, I found that there are experts at the mathematics education department of Deakin University that also concern about integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in education. This is the area of study that I propose in my research proposal. Some of them also have a connection or ever work together on a project with my previous supervisors from Indonesia and also from the Netherlands. The second reason to choose Deakin University is because the Deakin University provides several offers for their students such as the quality of the degree, the lively campus atmosphere, the flexibility of the learning methods used, the focus for the career and also it has won numerous awards.