Programs at School of Education associated with assessment are:
Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy and andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that aim to deliver education to students who are not physically "on site". Rather than attending courses in person, teachers and students may communicate at times of their own choosing by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time. Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program.
History
Distance education dates back to at least as early as 1728, when "an advertisement in the Boston Gazette...[named] 'Caleb Phillips, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand" was seeking students for lessons to be sent weekly.[1] Modern distance education has been practiced at least since Isaac Pitman taught shorthand in Great Britain via correspondence in the 1840s.[2] The development of the postal service in the 19th century lead to the growth of Commercial correspondence colleges with nation-wide reach.
The University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Programme in 1858.[3] Another pioneering institution was the University of South Africa, which has been offering Correspondence Education courses since 1946. The largest distance education university in the United Kingdom is the Open University founded 1969. In Germany the FernUniversität in Hagen was founded 1974. There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name Open University (in English or in the local language), and these are listed below.
Charles Wedemeyer of the University of Wisconsin at Madison is considered the father of modern distance education in America. From 1964-1968 the Carnegie Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought in a variety of communications technologies aimed at providing learning to an off-campus population. According to Moore's recounting, AIM impressed the British who imported these ideas and used them to create the first Open University, now called United Kingdom Open University (UKOU) to distinguish it from other open universities which have emerged. UKOU was established in the late 1960s and used television and radio as its primary delivery methodologies, thus placing it in the forefront of applying emerging technologies to learning. It is fair to say that all "open universities" use distance education technologies as delivery methodologies. There are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programs through distance education. Levels of accreditation vary; some institutions offering distance education in the United States have received little outside oversight, and some may be fraudulent diploma mills. In many other jurisdictions, an institution may not use the term "University" without accreditation and authorisation, normally by the national government. Online education is rapidly increasing among mainstream universities in the United States, where online doctoral programs have even developed at prestigious research institutions.
In the twentieth century, radio, television, and the Internet have all been used to further distance education. Computers and the Internet have made distance learning distribution easier and faster.
In 2006 the Sloan Consortium reported that more than 96 percent of the largest colleges and universities in the United States offered online courses and that almost 3.2 million U.S. students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term.
The types of available technologies used in distance education are divided into two groups: synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous technology is used in distance education lessons in which learning is occurring in different places but at the same time. Asynchronous technology is used in lessons in which learning is occurring in different places but also at different times.
Types of Synchronous technologies include:
-telephone
-boradcast video
-internet chat (such as AIM)
-videoconferencing
-net meeting
Types of Asynchronous technologies include:
-voice mail/fax
-videocassette
-audiocassette
-internet conferencing
-print materials
Types of distance education courses
· Correspondence conducted through regular mail
· Internet conducted either synchronously or asynchronously
· Telecourse/Broadcast, in which content is delivered via radio or television
· CD-ROM, in which the student interacts with computer content stored on a CD-ROM
· PocketPC/Mobile Learning where the student accesses course content stored on a mobile device or through a wireless server.
Distance Education has traversed four to five 'generations' of technology in its history. These are print, audio/video broadcasting, audio/video teleconferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/ online-learning, computer broadcasting/webcasting etc. Yet the radio remains a very viable form, especially in the developing nations, because of its reach. In India the FM Channel is very popular and is being used by universities, to broadcast educational programs of variety on areas such as teacher education, rural development, programs in agriculture for farmers, science education, creative writing, mass communication, in addition to traditional courses in liberal arts, science and business administration. The increasing popularity of mp3 players, PDAs and Smart Phone has provided an additional medium for the distribution of distance education content, and some professors now allow students to listen or even watch video of a course as a Podcast. Some colleges have been working with the U.S. military to distribute entire course content on a PDA to deployed personnel.
In at least one instance, an online course has been run entirely in a 3D virtual world through the popular online community Second Life. This approach has also been used in conjunction with on-campus class meetings, making the separation between distance and on-campus students increasingly insignificant.
In short then, though a range of technology presupposes a distance education 'inventory' it is technological appropriateness and connectivity, such as computer, or for that matter electrical connectivity that should be considered, when we think of the world as a whole, while fitting in technological applications to distance education.
Second Life has recently become one of the cutting-edge virtual classrooms for major colleges and universities, including Princeton, Rice University, University of Derby (UK), Vassar, the Open University (UK),. In 2007 Second Life started to be used for foreign language tuition [13]. Both Second Life and real life language educators have begun to use the virtual world for language tuition. English (as a foreign language) has gained a presence through several schools, including the British Council, which has focused on the Teen Grid. Spain’s language and cultural institute “Instituto Cervantes” has an island on Second Life. A list of educational projects (including some language schools) in Second Life can be found on the SimTeach site.
Distance education has had trouble since its conception with the testing of material. The delivery is fairly straightforward, which makes sure it is available to the student and he or she can read it at their leisure. The problem arises when the student is required to complete assignments and testing. Whether quizzes, tests, or examinations; Online courses have had difficulty controlling cheating because of the lack of teacher control. In a classroom situation a teacher can monitor students and visually uphold a level of integrity consistent with an institution's reputation. With distance education the student can be removed from supervision completely. Some schools address integrity issues concerning testing by requiring students to take examinations in a controlled setting.
Assignments have adapted by becoming larger, longer, and more thorough so as to test for knowledge by forcing the student to research the subject and prove they have done the work. Quizzes are a popular form of testing knowledge and many courses go by the honor system regarding cheating. Even if the student is checking questions in the textbook or online, there may be an enforced time limit or the quiz may be worth so little in the overall mark that it becomes inconsequential. Exams and bigger tests may be harder to regulate. In smaller tests a professor may employ another computer program to keep all other programs from running on the computer reducing the possibility of help from the Internet.
Used in combination with invigilators, a pre-arranged supervisor trusted with over-looking big tests and examinations may be used to increase security. Many Midterms and Final examinations are held at a common location so that professors can supervise directly. Many of these examinations are still on the computer in which case the same program blocking software can be used. When the Internet became a popular medium for distance education many websites were founded offering secure exam software and packages to help professors manage their students more effectively.
‘Ketika aku menjadi seorang pemuda, aku bermimpi ingin merubah dunia. Seiring dengan waktu, usiaku kian bertambah. Dunia tidak berubah. Dunia tidak kunjung berubah. Maka impianku persempit untuk mengubah negeri ini. Namun impian itu juga tidak berhasil. Negeri ini juga tidak berubah.’
‘Ketika usiaku sudah memasuki waktu senja. Dengan semangatku yang masih menggebu. Lalu aku memimpikan untuk bisa mengubah keluargaku. Orang-orang yang ku cintai. Orang-orang yang ada disekelilingku. Tetapi mereka juga tidak mampu aku merubahnya.’
Kini disaat terbaring lemah tidak berdaya. Air matanya mengalir tak terasa. Baju basah dengan air mata. Lelaki tua bergumam lirih pada dirinya sendiri.
‘Bila waktu masa muda itu aku mengubah diriku sendiri.
Maka aku akan menjadi panutan.
Maka aku bisa mengubah keluargaku.
Memberikan inspirasi dan mendorong orang-orang disekelilingku untuk melakukan kebaikan.
Dari mereka menanam dan menebarkan kebaikan, cinta dan kasih sayang sehingga mampu memperbaiki negeri ini. Tanpa disadari aku telah mengubah dunia.
"Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang bertaqwa mendapatkan kemenangan"
(QS, an-Naba’ :31)
Mugia urang samudayana kalebet janten jalmi anu ta'at
Umat taat
Imanna kuat
Tumut nasehat
Cekel amanat
Tara khianat
Yakinkeun syhadat
Nanjeurkeun sholat
Puasa tamat
Mere zakat
Ka haji mangkat
Pamadegan tepat
Awak sehat
Bathin wal afiat
Elmuna manfaat
(Awan)
Wallohu'alam.
Semoga bermanfaat!
Pendidikan Sebagai Investasi Jangka Panjang
(An Evaluation and Criticism )
"ti juru masigit
ngelentrung kohkol nu leungit
ti alam mana éta sora
marebot mana nu nakolna
tunggul nangka raga sésa
sarusiah jeung tongtolangna
kohkol ilang tanpakarana
pareng marebotna tilar dunya
saha nu rek bisa wani ngaganti
eta juru masigit anu geus pati"
-MANBAUL ULLUM-
"Learning Without Thought is labor lost"
"To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade."
"To realize the value of one month,
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby."
"To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper."
"To realize the value of one hour,
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet."
"To realize the value of one minute,
ask a person who missed the train."
"To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident."
"To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics."
-H2O&Friends-
Intro.
"Pedagogy is the determinant
of human relationships in the educational process.
It is itself the medium of communication between
teacher and learner, and that aspect …which most
affects what learners receive from their teachers.
"
– Betty Reardon-
Critical thinking consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. It includes possible processes of reflecting upon a tangible or intangible item in order to form a solid judgment that reconciles scientific evidence with common sense. In contemporary usage "critical" has a certain negative connotation that does not apply in the present case. Though the term "analytical thinking" may seem to convey the idea more accurately, critical thinking clearly involves synthesis, evaluation, and reconstruction of thinking, in addition to analysis.
Critical thinkers gather information from all senses, verbal and/or written expressions, reflection, observation, experience and reasoning. Critical thinking has its basis in intellectual clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance and fairness. criteria that go beyond subject-matter divisions and which include:
Critical thinking is a form of judgment, specifically purposeful and reflective judgment. Using critical thinking one makes a decision or solves the problem of judging what to believe or what to do, but does so in a reflective way. Critical thinking gives due consideration to the evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making that judgment well, the applicable methods or techniques for forming that judgment, and the applicable theoretical and constructs for understanding the nature of the problem and the question at hand. These elements also happen to be the key defining characteristics of professional fields and academic disciplines. This is why critical thinking can occur within a given subject field (by reference to its specific set of permissible questions, evidence sources, criteria, etc.) and across subject fields in all those spaces where human beings need to interact and make decisions, solve problems, and figure out what to believe and what to do.
Within the framework of scientific skepticism, the process of critical thinking involves acquiring information and evaluating it to reach a well-justified conclusion or answer. Part of critical thinking comprises informal logic. However, a large part of critical thinking goes beyond informal logic and includes assessment of beliefs and identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda, self-deception, distortion, misinformation, etc. Given research in cognitive psychology, some educators believe that schools should focus more on teaching their students critical thinking skills, intellectual standards, and cultivating intellectual traits (such as intellectual humility, intellectual empathy, intellectual integrity, and fair-mindedness) than on memorizing facts by rote learning.
As defined in A Greek-English Lexicon, the verb krino- means to choose, decide or judge. Hence a krites is a discerner, judge or arbiter. Those who are kritikos have the ability to discern or decide by exercising sound judgment. The word krino- also means to separate (winnow) the wheat from the chaff or that which has worth from that which does not.
Critical thinking is important, because it enables one to analyze, evaluate, explain, and restructure our thinking, decreasing thereby the risk of acting on, or thinking with, a false premise. However, even with the use of critical thinking skills, mistakes can happen due to a thinker's egocentrism or sociocentrism or failure to be in possession of the full facts. In addition, there is always the possibility of inadvertent human error.
Universal concepts and principles of critical thinking can be applied to any context or case but only by reflecting upon the nature of that application. Critical thinking forms, therefore, a system of related, and overlapping, modes of thought such as anthropological thinking, sociological thinking, historical thinking, political thinking, psychological thinking, philosophical thinking, mathematical thinking, chemical thinking, biological thinking, ecological thinking, legal thinking, ethical thinking, musical thinking, thinking like a painter, sculptor, engineer, business person, etc. In other words, though critical thinking principles are universal, their application to disciplines requires a process of reflective contextualizing.
One can regard critical thinking as involving two aspects:
1. a set of cognitive skills, intellectual standards, and traits of mind
2. the disposition or intellectual commitment to use those structures to improve thinking and guide behavior.
Critical thinking, in the strong sense, does not include simply the acquisition and retention of information, or the possession of a skill-set which one does not use regularly; nor does critical thinking merely exercise skills without acceptance of the results.
Critical thinking is based on concepts and principles, not on hard and fast, or step-by-step, procedures.[3] Critical thinking does not assure that one will reach either the truth or correct conclusions. First, one may not have all the relevant information; indeed, important information may remain undiscovered, or the information may not even be knowable. Furthermore, one may make unjustified inferences, use inappropriate concepts, fail to notice important implications, use a narrow or unfair point of view. One may be a victim of self-delusion, egocentricity or sociocentricity, or closed-mindedness. One's thinking may be unclear, inaccurate, imprecise, irrelevant, narrow, shallow, illogical, or trivial. One may be intellectually arrogant, intellectually lazy, or intellectually hypocritical. These are some of the ways that human thinking can be flawed.
Human thinking left to itself often leads to various forms of self-deception, individually and socially; and at the left, right, and mainstream of economic, political, and religious issues. Further analysis and resources about this interaction may be found in Roderick Hindery (2001): Indoctrination and Self-deception or Free and Critical Thought.
Very recently some yet to be confirmed experiments show that we may make even the most complex decisions before we even become fully aware of the fact we have made a decision. Since almost by definition such definitions are not based on critical thinking (because it requires careful reflection); thus any development of critical thinking skills must work to over ride our natural tendency to decide before having all the facts.
Critical thinking is useful only in those situations where human beings need to solve problems, make decisions, or decide in a reasonable and reflective way what to believe or what to do. That is, just about everywhere and all the time.[citation needed] Critical thinking is important wherever the quality of human thinking significantly impacts the quality of life (of any sentient creature). For example, success in human life is tied to success in learning. At the same time, every phase in the learning process is tied to critical thinking. Thus, reading, writing, speaking, and listening can all be done critically or uncritically. Critical thinking is crucial to becoming a close reader and a substantive writer. Expressed most generally, critical thinking is “a way of taking up the problems of life.”[4]
Irrespective of the sphere of thought, “a well cultivated critical thinker":
Critical thinking is about being both willing and able to think. Ideally one develops critical thinking skills and at the same time the disposition to use those skills to solve problems and form good judgments. The dispositional dimension of critical thinking is characterological. Its focus in developing the habitual intention to be truth-seeking, open-minded, systematic, analytical, inquisitive, confident in reasoning, and prudent in making judgments. Those who are ambivalent on one or more of these aspects of the disposition toward critical thinking, or who have the opposite disposition [biased, intolerant, disorganized, heedless of consequences, indifferent toward new information, mistrustful of reasoning, imprudence] are less likely to engage problems using their critical thinking skills. The relationship between critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions is an empirical question. Some have both in abundance, some have skills but not the disposition to use them, some are disposed but lack strong skills and some have neither. Two measures of critical thinking dispositions are the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory[5] and the California Measure of Mental Motivation.[6]
Critical thinking may be distinguished, but not separated, from emotions, desires, and traits of mind. Failure to recognize the relationship between thinking, feeling, wanting, and traits of mind can easily lead to various forms of self-deception, both individually and collectively. When persons possess intellectual skills alone, without the intellectual traits of mind, weak sense critical thinking results. Fair-minded or strong sense critical thinking requires intellectual humility, empathy, integrity, perseverance, courage, autonomy, confidence in reason, and other intellectual traits. Thus, critical thinking without essential intellectual traits often results in clever, but manipulative, often unethical, thought. In short, the sophist, the con artist, the manipulator often uses intellectually defective but effective forms of thought — serving unethical purposes. However, whereas critical thinking yields itself to analytical considerations readily and may be considered largely "objective", few humans notice the degree to which they uncritically presuppose the mores and taboos of their society (and hence fail to discern their own “subjectivity.” and one-sidedness).
There is no simple way to reduce one's bias. There are, however, ways that one can begin to do so. The most important require developing one's intellectual empathy and intellectual humility. The first requires extensive experience in entering and accurately constructing points of view toward which one has negative feelings. The second requires extensive experience in identifying the extent of one's own ignorance in a wide variety of subjects (ignorance whose admission leads one to say, "I thought I knew, but I merely believed"). One becomes less biased and more broad-minded when one becomes more intellectually empathic and intellectually humble, and that involves time, deliberate practice and commitment. It involves considerable personal and intellectual development.
To develop one's critical thinking abilities, one should learn the art of suspending judgment (for example, when reading a novel, watching a movie, engaging in dialogical or dialectical reasoning). Ways of doing this include adopting a perceptive rather than judgmental orientation; that is, avoiding moving from perception to judgment as one applies critical thinking to an issue.
One should become aware of one's own fallibility by:
An integration of insights from the critical thinking literature and cognitive psychology literature is the "Method of Argument and Heuristic Analysis." This technique illustrates the influences of heuristics and biases on human decision making along with the influences of thinking critically about reasons and claims.
The key to seeing the significance of critical thinking in the classroom is in understanding the significance of critical thinking in learning.
There are two phases to the learning of content. The first occurs when learners (for the first time) construct in their minds the basic ideas, principles, and theories that are inherent in content. This is a process of internalization. The second occurs when learners effectively use those ideas, principles, and theories as they become relevant in learners’ lives. This is a process of application. Good teachers cultivate critical thinking (intellectually engaged thinking) at every stage of learning, including initial learning. This process of intellectual engagement is at the heart of the Oxford and Cambridge tutorials. The tutor questions the students, often in a Socratic manner (see Socratic questioning). The key is that the teacher who fosters critical thinking fosters reflectiveness in students by asking questions that stimulate thinking essential to the construction of knowledge.
As emphasized above, each discipline adapts its use of critical thinking concepts and principles. The core concepts are always there, but they are embedded in subject specific content. For students to learn content, intellectual engagement is crucial. All students must do their own thinking, their own construction of knowledge. Good teachers recognize this and therefore focus on the questions, readings, activities that stimulate the mind to take ownership of key concepts and principles underlying the subject.
In the UK school system, Critical thinking is offered as a subject which 16-18 year olds can take as an A-Level. Under the OCR exam board, students can sit two exam papers for the AS: "Credibility of Evidence" and "Assessing and Developing Argument". The full Advanced GCE is now available: in addition to the two AS units, candidates sit the two papers "Resolution of Dilemmas" and "Critical Reasoning". The A-level tests candidates on their ability to think critically about, and analyze, arguments on their deductive or inductive validity, as well as producing their own arguments. It also tests their ability to analyse certain related topics such as credibility and ethical decision-making. However, due to its comparative lack of subject content, many universities do not accept it as a main A-level for admissions.[7] Nevertheless, the AS is often useful in developing reasoning skills, and the full advanced GCE is useful for degree courses in politics, philosophy, history or theology, providing the skills required for critical analysis that are useful, for example, in biblical study.
There is also an Advanced Extension Award offered in Critical Thinking in the UK, open to any A-level student regardless of whether they have the Critical Thinking A-level. Cambridge International Examinations have an A-level in Thinking Skills.[8] From 2008, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance will also be offering an A-level Critical Thinking specification;[9] OCR exam board have also modified theirs for 2008. Many examinations for university entrance set by universities, on top of A-level examinations, also include a critical thinking component, such as the LNAT, the UKCAT, the BioMedical Admissions Test and the Thinking Skills Assessment.
Unfortunately research shows that most universities are ineffective in fostering critical thinking. For example, in a three year study of 68 public and private colleges in California, though the overwhelming majority (89%) claimed critical thinking to be a primary objective of their instruction, only a small minority (19%) could give a clear explanation of what critical thinking is. Furthermore, though the overwhelming majority (78%) claimed that their students lacked appropriate intellectual standards (to use in assessing their thinking), and 73% considered that students learning to assess their own work was of primary importance, only a very small minority (8%) could enumerate any intellectual criteria or standards they required of students or could give an intelligible explanation of what those criteria and standards were.
This study mirrors a meta-analysis of the literature on teaching effectiveness in higher education.[10] According to the study, critical reports by authorities on higher education, political leaders and business people have claimed that higher education is failing to respond to the needs of students, and that many of our graduates’ knowledge and skills do not meet society’s requirements for well-educated citizens. Thus the meta-analysis focused on the question: How valid are these claims? Researchers concluded:
William Graham Sumner offers a useful summary of critical thinking:
References:The critical habit of thought, if usual in society, will pervade all its mores, because it is a way of taking up the problems of life. Men educated in it cannot be stampeded by stump orators ... They are slow to believe. They can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without certainty and without pain. They can wait for evidence and weigh evidence, uninfluenced by the emphasis or confidence with which assertions are made on one side or the other. They can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices and all kinds of cajolery. Education in the critical faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens.
# ^ According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest uses of "critical" (1580) had acquired negative connotations. By 1650, however, it was being used in the sense of "involving or exercising careful judgment or observation," though the OED calls this sense obsolete "or merged in other senses." The phrase "critical thinking" appears to be an example of the survival of this positive sense.
# ^ Edward M. Glaser, An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking, Teacher’s College, Columbia University, 1941.[page # needed]
# ^ Paul, Dr. Richard; Elder, Dr. Linda, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0944583104.[page # needed]
# Damer, T. Edward. Attacking Faulty Reasoning, 5th Edition,
# Dauer, Francis Watanabe. Critical thinking: an introduction to reasoning
# Facione, P. 2007. Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts - 2007 Update
#
# Hamby, B.W. The Philosophy of Anything: Critical Thinking in Context. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company,
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Ucapan Terima Kasih:
1. Dra. Roswati Mudjiarto M.Pd.
(Dosen Senior di Jurusan Fisika Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia) Sebagian tulisan ini adalah atas motivasi beliau
2. Yusuf Kurniawan S.Pd.*
( Seorang Pendidik di SMKN Raja Desa)
Disusun Ulang Oleh:
1.Agung Febrianto (Mahasiswa Ekonomi UNSOED)
2. Ade Akhyar N. (Mahasiswa Teknik Geology UNSOED)
3. Riki (Mahasiswa Teknik Sipil Universitas Indonesia)
4. Kurniawan (Mahasiswa STIK Bina Putera Banjar)
5. Arip Nurahman (Mahasiswa Pendidikan Fisika FPMIPA UPI, Follower Open Course Ware At MIT-Harvard University. USA.)
Semoga Bermanfaat dan Terima Kasih
