<![CDATA[Microbial biodiversity is an important concept in understanding ecosystem functions and biological processes, including food fermentation. This study described a food microbiology practicum using local fermented products as a context for teaching microbial biodiversity and examined changes in students’ test scores before and after the practicum. A one-group pretest–posttest design involved 30 first-semester students in the Agroindustrial Food Study Program at Politeknik Negeri Sambas, Indonesia. Students were divided into six groups of five. Groups 1 and 2 used tape, groups 3 and 4 used cencalok, and groups 5 and 6 used pekasam obtained from a local market in Sambas. The practicum was conducted in one 180-minute session. Student understanding was assessed using a 20-item multiple-choice test administered before and after the practicum. The mean practicum-implementation score was 95.90% (SD = 2.76), while the mean student-activity score was 95.83% (SD = 3.61). The mean pretest score was 59.10 (SD = 6.65), increasing to 81.17 (SD = 6.14) on the posttest. All students obtained higher posttest scores, and the mean normalized gain was 0.52 (SD = 0.19). The mean practicum-report score was 85.12 (SD = 6.16), while the mean student-response score was 3.89 (SD = 0.11). These findings describe an increase in test scores within one group but do not establish a causal effect of the practicum because no comparison group was included. Furthermore, no microbial colonies were observed or counted, and no taxonomic identification was conducted. Therefore, microbial biodiversity in the products was not measured directly. The findings highlight the potential use of local fermented foods as contextual learning resources for microbiology education in vocational higher education.]]>
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