From Zero to Engine Room: Designing Contextual Learning Modules for Basic Marine Machinery Literacy Among Entry-Level Vocational Maritime Students

Indonesia's rapidly expanding demand for certified seafarers places mounting pressure on vocational maritime schools to produce engine-room-ready graduates within compressed instructional timeframes. Entry-level students at Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Pelayaran — Indonesia's vocational maritime high schools — frequently lack foundational machinery literacy, creating dangerous competency gaps before formal sea service begins. Existing learning modules for introductory marine engineering courses rarely apply contextual or project-based approaches tailored to beginners unfamiliar with propulsion systems, auxiliary machinery, or fuel delivery systems. This study develops and validates contextual learning modules specifically designed for introductory marine engineering at the vocational level, employing a design-based research methodology across two SMK Pelayaran cohorts in East Java. Module development proceeded through three iterative phases: expert validation, small-scale trial, and full-scale implementation with pre-test and post-test evaluation. Findings demonstrate that contextually designed modules — anchored in real machinery scenarios, peer collaborative tasks, and technology-supported visual content — produce statistically and educationally significant learning gains in basic marine machinery literacy compared to conventional textbook instruction. The study contributes a validated, replicable module design framework for pre-cadet marine engineering education and recommends its adoption within the national vocational maritime curriculum structure.