The Use of Podcasts as a Learning Strategy in Christian Education in Developing Senior High School Students’ Creativity in the Digital Era: A Case Study

Abstract

The use of podcasts as a learning strategy in Christian education aims to focus on students study areas and make them think creatively about what they hear, so that what is being learned can be properly implemented because students are actively involved in the discussion and get immediate feedback from what was discussed. This study examined the senior high school students' creativity towards Christian education about "love, sex, and dating" in terms of their activities in answering questions. The quantitative data was obtained from the responses of as sample of the first-grade students that enrolled in a Christian education subject in SMAN 3 Tarutung. Questionnaires were given to them to respond to in order to assess the students' creativity based on the Guilford Theory of Creativity. The collected data was analyzed quantitatively from the students' answers by using the percentage of how many responses there were (fluency), how many types of responses there were (flexibility), the unusualness of the responses (originality), and the detail of the responses (elaboration). The Guilford theory system was used to quantify the relative level of students' creativity, and then to arrive at the conclusion of this study, the collected data was analyzed quantitatively. The result showed a significant difference in students' creativity in understanding Christian education relating to "Love, Sex, and Dating" after using podcasts to convey the material along with two informants who were experts in Christian education. This study has an important contribution to make in helping academicians improve and enhance their teaching strategies to achieve the desired objectives of using podcasts as a learning strategy in Christian education so as to develop students' creativity optimally.