The use of Brainstorming in learning writing Pinkan Harjudanti 1,*, Feby Ardini 2, Danis Navaresta 3 1 1 Muhammadiyah Jakarta Universiti, K.H. Ahmad Dahlan street, Cirendeu, East Ciputat, South Tangerang 15419, Indonesia 1 pinkanharjdnt@gmail.com *; 2 febyardini2@gmail.com ; 3 danisnavaresta@gmail.com * corresponding author ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received Revised Accepted One of the learning models that can be implemented in increasing students ability in English is to use Brainstorming. Brainstorming is a learning model that focuses on exchanging opinions with students in the learning process. Brainstorming provides opportunities for students to express their opinions and also create alternative solutions to overcome their writing skills in learning English. The purpose of this study, by using brainstorming can improve students' thinking abilities in expressing opinions in English. The method used for this research uses a qualitative / interpretative paradigm. And the learning process becomes more active after using Brainstorming. So, it can be argued that the use of brainstorming can improve students 'ability to regulate English and also can train students' ability to express opinions. one learning model that can be applied is to use problem based learning (pbl), focused on providing solutions to students' problems. In the use of problem based learning (PBL), there are several ways that can be done, one of them is by brainstorming. brainstorm makes the class more active because it is based on discussion. The participants of this research are the students of class 11, with 2 sessions in the span of one hour of teaching and learning. the result of this research is to improve students' ability in mastering aspects of English especially writing. This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. Keywords Brainstorming, Learning Writing 1. Introduction Language is a communication tool for more than half of the world's population.1 English language skills are really needed for anyone. four main aspects namely speaking, writing, listening and reading, are very important aspects and related to one of them. in the world of education, each of these aspects has a variety of ways to approach, process and results obtained for their students. one aspect that can be directly done in order to get all its values is writing. in writing Young minds are full of imagination, wonder and curiosity. Writing can be an amazing outlet for kids – allowing them full reign to express their personality and creativity. Even so, most kids dread the thought of writing, especially when it comes to tedious writing assignments in school. And in the age of email, text messaging and social networking, kids’ tolerance for writing anything longer than a few sentences is being severely tested. Writing skills have become necessary skills in reality, many students think that it is difficult to write good writing, even if they try. Already known that writing the most difficult skill in the process of learning to write English (Crimmon, 1998). many students build their own anticipatory or modification models to make writing easier regardless of whether the writing is true or not, especially in English. Being able to write and write well is an essential skill for all ages. That’s why it’s even more important today to encourage your children at a very early age to write, learn how to spell and follow rules of grammar and punctuation. So how can you help make writing fun for your children? from writing we can get other results for reading, listening and speaking, because in general cases and taboos students can read well but fail in writing or vice versa and others. with writing many people from around the world make their lives better by increasing their writing skills. It is expected that students in the class can also get the same thing, with various approaches to improve writing skills, it is also expected that teachers can do writing activities well in accordance with the needs of students in the class. Brainstorming The brainstorming has variety of popular meanings. Some times it is called a casual discussion for new ideas. Some people believe that the term brainstorming is universal treatment of creative problem solving technique. Brainstorming itself falls into the category of problem based learning (PBL). The problem based learning models was developd for the first time by Howard Barrows in the early 70’s in the study medical of education in southern illinouis university school (Barrows & Tamblyn 1980).1 According to Alex Obsorn – Brainstorming is a tool for maximizing a group’s creativity in problem solving. It is a conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously from its members. According to Webster’s new World College Dictionary “Brainstorming is the unrestrained offering of ideas or suggestions by all members of a committee, conference, etc. in an effort to find a solution to a problem, generate fresh ideas, etc. Agnes Michael (Ed.) Human being live in a group or organization. Brainstorming is group activity. It is a process of problem solving and getting solution, remedies on problem by collecting ideas from group. ”Brainstorming is creative idea generation technique. It is also a problem solving technique. This technique provides free environment to present individual ideas, without attracting criticism from any one. Every generated idea is recorded and considered as solution to a problem. Purpose of this article is to review the experimental literature on brainstorming. The term Brainstorming will be defined and summarized. “ In the context of language classes, brainstorming is often used in teaching writing as part of the pre-writing phase (Richards, 1990, as cited in Cullen, 1998). Brainstorming is usually a small group activity that encourages students to focus on the free flow of ideas. The main purpose of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible within the specified time frame given in class. The ideas generated are not evaluated until the task is completed and often various ideas are generated. Although not all ideas generated can be used, initial ideas can be seen as starting points for more useful ideas. Teaching Brainstorming techniques in class helps students to develop their writing and create ideas needed in the acquisition of a second language. Brainstorming is a valuable technique in developing students' ideas before students begin their writing assignments (Harmer, 2001). One of the most important features of brainstorming is that it does not need preparation and can also be used at all levels of education and under any circumstances (Buzan, 1993). The teacher can use brainstorming activities to encourage students to share ideas with each other about certain topics or questions. In schools, English is taught as a second language and it is not the main medium of teaching. Speaking English has always been a scary experience for many students; thus, English teachers are faced with challenges to make students participate in class. In some situations, students are reluctant to use English for speaking activities. In fact, speaking in the second language has been considered the most challenging of the four language skills (Bailey, 2006, as quoted in Soraya 2010).Methodology, As for the method to be used is a discussion method, where the aim is to gather ideas and opinions of information, knowledge, experience, from all participants. In the discussion method the ideas of a person can be responded to (supported, supplemented, reduced, or disagreed) by other participants, but in the brainstorming method the opinions of others are not to be responded to. First, a small group of students is formed. They are asked to sit in a group and are provided with a particular issue or topic.Teacher, as the group leader, then ask group members to think about the problem and give their ideas. They are advised to find as many solutions to the problem as they can find. They are instructed not to criticize others ideas but they are free to make attentions to others ideas. Students are encouraged to put forward suggestions without hesitation even if they seem to come up with unusual and unorthodox ideas.Students ideas are to be listened and accepted patiently, without passing any judgment or comment of any sort until the session is over. 2. Method Participant of the Study Study participants were students from class 11 of the 2019 school year. The participants were mixed type and aged 14-15 years. They were assigned to make groups of 3 people by choosing one of the 2 writing topics provided. in writing topic contents the students can exchange ideas / opinions with each other so that the brainstorming itself is carried out directly. Research Procedure The activity has two cycles. in one student meeting to choose a topic that has been provided, on the next day / week the second cycle is done by having students open the topic content and exchange opinions with other groups. They can critique the contents of each group and topic. The participants work together to brainstorm and produce solutions that are also guided by the teacher. Thereafter, they brainstormed and generated ideas related to the problem. Between the first and second PBL cycles, the question and answer session was conducted with students and other students. In the session, they discussed issues related to the topic of the problem chosen and wrote. This is to clear some misunderstanding of each other's opinions / arguments. Aspects of the Brainstorming Method: 1. Focus on quantity The assumption that applies here is that the more ideas that emerge, the more likely the ideas that become solutions to the problem. 2. Postponement of criticism In brainstorming, criticism of ideas that come up will be postponed. Assessment is done at the end of the session, this is to make students feel free to come up with various ideas during the learning process. 3. Welcome to an unusual idea Unusual ideas arise warmly welcomed. Could be, this unusual idea is a solution to the problem that will provide a good perspective for the future. 4. Combine and refine ideas Good ideas can be combined into one better idea. Findings Brainstorming aplication in classroom. 1. Padlet Padlet is a great tool for both students and teachers. With this tool you can create online boards that can be shared with both of them. It is simple and intuitive, you just have to share a link with them, and the tool allows you to insert ideas and responses anonymously or with your name. Whoever has the board open on its computer, tablet or smartphone, can see what’s on it and what everyone is writing. Students can use this tool when collaborating during teamwork projects and the teacher can use it in order to do brainstormings on a topic in class.What you can do is simply collect ideas when you find something interesting on the web, and use it during your lessons. All you have to do is save it to a Padlet board and the students can do the same. 2. Brainstorm IBrainstorm is an easy way to capture and share a student’s creative mind. Students with this app can invite up to 3 other students to participate in the brainstorming activity and can write and add notes to the board. Students can start from scratch, or they can choose one of the 13 background templates. They can even brainstorm about anything, even how to put their football players on the field! 3. Google Docs Google Docs is just like Word, but with a major twist. The change lies in the fact that you can work together on the same document at the same time from different devices. No more sending files back and forth, thankfully. But really, no more figuring out which file was the latest and every change is saved automatically, which avoids major disasters. The question is : why is this a brainstorm app? I’ve decided to give Google Docs a place because it’s a great collaborative tool and it’s very intuitive and simple to use in order to brainstorm from home with other students over homeworks or new projects. Working together has never been so simple and fun. 4. Popplet Popplet is perhaps the easiest tool so far to capture and organize ideas. In a few clicks on your device’s screen you can make “Popplets” (little squares) and add text and images. It’s easy to connect the Popplets, rearrange them, change their colour and even adjust their shape. Popplet is awesome for learning school and even at home. Students use Popplet in order to think and learn visually and they learn to generate new ideas by capturing facts, thoughts, and images. They can also learn to make simple mind maps in just a few steps. 7 Techniques for More Effective Brainstorming: 1. Brain Writing The general principle of this technique is to separate idea generation from discussion. The team leader shares the topic with the team, and team members individually write down their ideas. This helps eliminate the anchoring bias and encourages everyone on the team to share their own ideas. It also gives everyone more time to think over their ideas, which is especially helpful for your introverted participants. This brainstorming technique works best for teams who seem to be greatly influenced by the first ideas presented during a meeting. When your team is brainstorming ideas individually, away from distraction and public opinion, you generate concepts that may not naturally surface in a larger setting. Individual brainstorming techniques like this will often give you more unique ideas than when the group comes up with topic ideas together. 2. Figuring Storming Ever consider how someone else might handle the situation? Or what they might say about a particular topic? With figuring storming, you aim to do just that. Think about how someone like your boss, a famous celebrity, or even the president of the United States might handle the situation. Putting yourself in new shoes can give the team a different perspective, helping them see the possibilities from fresh ideas. This technique works best for teams who find themselves coming across the same ideas for repetitive projects. Try the simple question: What would Abraham Lincoln do? When you brainstorm questions that revolve around the possible actions of a third party, you free up ideas that aren't limited to your participants. It's one of those exercises for teams that gives everyone a different viewpoint. 3. Online Brainstorming (Brain-netting) Virtual teams are becoming more and more common across all industries. The evolution of email and collaboration tools make working remotely the norm in some organizations. But what happens when the team needs to come together to brainstorm? Sure, ideas can be tossed back and forth through email, but then it becomes difficult to archive those ideas for future reference. Creating a central location online where team members can collaborate is crucial for these virtual teams — consider cloud-based document storage or an online collaboration tool. See how Backcountry uses a collaboration software to brainstorm productively. There are also a ton of great brainstorming tools that help make online brainstorming more of a visual and collaborative experience. One brainstorming exercise for groups involves using an online mind-mapping tool to answer very specific questions or generate ideas tangential to the main problem. What other ideas surround this concept? Map these examples out, visually. 4. Rapid Ideation Sometimes, time limitations can help generate ideas quickly, because you don't have time to filter or overthink each one. With this technique, the team leader provides context beforehand with information or questions on the topic, budget, deadline, etc. Then, a time limit is set for individuals to write down as many thoughts or ideas around the topic as possible, using any mediums available. Participants should not worry about filtering their ideas. The great part about this style of brainstorming is that it's completely customizable to meet the needs of the team and project. Several different mediums can be used, such as pen and paper, white boards, Post-Its... anything to get the creative juices flowing. The time limit for your rapid ideation session can be anywhere from five to 45 minutes, depending on the complexity of your topic. This technique is good for teams who tend to get sidetracked, teams who hate meetings, or for placing a time limit on brainstorming sessions that frequently last longer than expected. Here’s a tip you should take very seriously… get silly! Management professor Leigh Thompson conducted another study on this subject. She found that groups who shared funny or embarrassing stories about themselves came  up with 26% more ideas in 15% more categories than the groups who didn’t. While brainstorming is the basic technique for developing ideas and getting people to think up new concepts and solutions, there is a very real temptation to overthink things. It's easy to get bogged down by every new idea and its details. This is precisely the problem that rapid ideation seeks to solve.   5. Round Robin Brainstorming Teams form a circle to kick off this  method. Once the topic is shared, go around the circle one-by-one and have each person offer an idea until everyone has had a turn. Simultaneously, a facilitator records all ideas so they can be discussed once the sharing is over. It's very important to not evaluate any ideas until everyone has the opportunity to share. This technique is good when some of your team members have a tendency to stay quiet throughout meetings. When leading a session, the round robin method of brainstorming allows everyone to pitch in and contribute. Just make sure to treat each idea with equal weight. And try to discourage people from saying "X already mentioned my idea." If this does happen, say you'll return to them at the end so they have time to think of something new. 6. Starbursting No, it has nothing to do with the candy. This form of brainstorming focuses on forming questions rather than answers. Starbursting challenges the team to come up with as many questions as they can about your topic. An easy way to begin a session like this would be to start listing questions that deal with the who, what, where, when, and why. This style assures that all aspects of the project are addressed before any work goes into executing it. It's a good technique for teams who tend to overlook certain aspects of a project and end up rushing to get things done last minute. Thinking up some good brainstorming questions has the added benefit of giving you an instant backlog of ideas for web content: In case you need a FAQ section for your website or product, simply answer the generated questions. 7. Stepladder Technique Developed in 1992, this style of brainstorming encourages every member in the team to contribute individually before being influenced by everyone else. The session begins with the facilitator sharing the topic or question with the whole team. Once the topic is shared, everyone leaves the room except two members of the team. These two members will then discuss the topic and their ideas. Then, one additional member is added to the group. This new member will contribute his or her ideas BEFORE the other two discuss theirs. Repeat this cycle until everyone from the original group is in the room. This technique prevents groupthink in teams where one or two members hold sway over everyone else. This also helps encourage the shy folks in the group to share their ideas without feeling intimidated by a room full of people. The stepladder technique is actually one of the more mature brainstorming strategies as it incorporates both an individual and a group participation aspect. This technique is useful for medium-sized groups of anywhere from five to 15 people. Once the group gets larger, however, it takes much longer and may become unwieldy. Discussion Brainstorming method itself is a method or teaching that is carried out by the teacher in the classroom. It is by throwing a problem into the classroom by the teacher, then students answer or express opinions, or comments so that the problem may develop into a new problem, or it can be interpreted as a way to get many ideas from a group of people in a short time. In implementing this method the teacher's job is to provide problems that are able to stimulate the minds of students, so they can respond, and the teacher must not comment that students' opinions are true or false. While the role of students in this brainstorming method is tasked with having the provision of knowledge to respond to problems, express opinions, ask questions, or raise new problems through the process of imagination they have. They learn and practice formulating their opinions with good language and sentences, so they can get a right conclusion after learning. Brainstorming method has the advantage, among others, to drain away everything that is thought by students in responding to problems raised by the teacher and to obtain various possible solutions to a problem. However, the shortcomings of this method include that students tend to assume that all their opinions will be accepted and the teacher is also deemed to be lacking in giving sufficient time to students to think well. Conclusion Brainstorming is a great way to generate radical ideas and “out of the box” solutions. During the process there should be no criticism of the ideas put forth by each member. This will make group brainstorming sessions fun and create a stronger sense of community in the team. Variative methods will also make it easier for students and teacher and the learning and teaching process in addition to not taking time is also very efficient and train students creativity. 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