Education and Society
This course examines the relationships of education and society with the use of interdisciplinary approaches, since education as a discipline spans the life course and happens in many contexts within society along with its social and political dynamics. This course offers students both theoretical overview and empirical observation on how education shapes societal development and social progress by addressing various essential issues e.g. how education creates good citizens and fosters good society, how education applies in diverse cultures of a society, how education promotes social mobility and alleviates poverty, the creation of middle-class groups, economic development and individual’s income, private and social benefits of education, how education promotes political
democracy, and others.
The course sessions will also address some specific questions, among others: How should educational institutions be developed in order to play a role in making progress, improving welfare, social cohesion, social justice, and gender equality? Why do certain educational institutions with certain orientation grow and become mainstream in a society, whereas others decline or even be marginalized? The course also observes education and society by taking comparative studies in the contexts of Asian, African, and several Western countries. Given the increasing importance of the Muslim community in recent times, the course also examines a number of case studies of education in Muslim societies or in Muslim-majority countries. As the global communities have a great deal of attention for decades to education focusing on developing countries, this course will also address the role of the international agencies e.g. UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, the World Bank in promoting quality education for a country’s development. The main focus of this part is on the important role of international development partners in promoting quality education for the betterment of a nation. The course will be enriched with cross-subject analyses through the lenses of anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and history.
Educational Research Methodology
The goal of the Educational Research Methodology course is to introduce graduate students to educational research, its philosophical underpinnings, paradigms, and major instantiations. Students will engage with the major questions of education research, and the methods that researchers have used to tackle these questions. The course includes an introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as other research approaches, in addition to the policies and regulations associated with conducting research with human subjects.
Comparative Philosophy of Education
This course is designed to guide students to comprehend and critically analyze different philosophical thoughts, theories and traditions of education in different cultures. Students will have the opportunity to learn, explore, and compare educational philosophy and traditions of the Western, Eastern and Islamic societies. Students will explore major philosophical schools of Western education, such as perennialism, Idealism, Essentialism, and progressivism, as well as Eastern philosophy of education such as Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian philosophies and traditions. More importantly students will explore Islamic philosophy and traditions of education. This course will be delivered through various means of teaching and learning, including lecture, article review, curriculum project, presentation and discussion.
Psychology in Education
This course is a core subject in a master’s program in the Faculty of Education, of Indonesian International Islamic University. This course aims to equip students with theories and concepts about the growth and development of children, learning theories from the perspective of behaviorist, cognitive, and humanistic, the factors that affect learning (intelligence, motivation, emotions, interests, talents), a taxonomy of learning outcomes, theory of memory, learning progress monitoring, education for gifted children, education for children with special needs, early childhood education, parenting styles, learning difficulties and current issues in educational psychology. Through this course participation, students are expected to write the resume of the course topics, to perform case studies analysis, and to present literature review in the area of educational psychology. The level of students’ learning success is assessed from the level of mastery as demonstrated in the assessment of learning outcomes, which include the ability to apply knowledge as reflected in the quality of individual assignments and in class active participation.
Educational Research Methodology
The goal of the Educational Research Methodology course is to introduce graduate students to educational research, its philosophical underpinnings, paradigms, and major instantiations. Students will engage with the major questions of education research, and the methods that researchers have used to tackle these questions. The course includes an introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as other research approaches, in addition to the policies and regulations associated with conducting research with human subjects.
Wasathiyatul Islam in a Globalized World
In this course, students learn various concepts and practices of wasatiyyat Islam as introduced by scholars and practiced within Indonesian societies. Students are trained to become familiar with wasatiyyat conceptually from the Qur’an, Hadis, and contemporary Islamic thinkers, as well as experiences in Indonesia and other Muslim countries as exposed and managed by civil society exponents and the state. At the end of the lecture, students are expected to have in-depth knowledge of various concepts and their socio-religious and political use by state and non-state actors nationally and globally to respond to a globalized society challenged by the ramifications of violent extremism. The teaching method includes lectures, presentations, discussions, and assignments (paper writing), all summarized in class seminar activities.
Three Keys to Win A Travel Grant to the USA Conference
Three Keys to Win A Travel Grant to the USA Conference
By Muhammat Sabar Prihatin (Phd student at the Faculty of Education UIII 2023)
Being accepted as a presenter in six different international conferences in Indonesia and abroad marks a significant ambition of my second-year study journey here in the faculty of education UIII. From November 2024 to June 2025, I already presented my papers in several conferences, such as the third International Conference on Religious Moderation (ICROM) held by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia in Jakarta, 5-7 November 2024, where our lecturer Dr. Andar was one of the keynote speakers in this event. I also had a chance to present my paper online in the International Conference on Research, Community Service, and Gender Studies (ICRCSGS) conducted by UIN Imam Bonjol Padang, West Sumatera, 5-6 December 2024. Prof. Nina, our dean, was one of the keynote speakers. Not to mention, on 10-11 May 2025, I presented my paper in the third International Conference on Islamic Education and Science Development (ICONSIDE) held by UIN Mataram, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. The head of the PhD in Education program, Dr. Bambang, was one of the keynote speakers in this forum. Lately, I have flown all the way from Jakarta to Los Angeles to present my work in the Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR) Biennial Conference conducted by the American Anthropological Association, taking place in the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), California, USA, 21-23 June 2025.
Those experiences reflect my endeavours to engage in national and global academic conversations as an emerging scholar. This story would have never happened unless because of various valuable lessons I learned, particularly from our beloved university. I figured out three keys that I believe had enabled me successfully to participate in such meaningful academic events I mentioned before, including winning a competitive travel grant for the U.S. conference. Let me share my reflection on this story in more detail, as follows.
Themed Religiosities, Ecologies, and Environmentalisms in the Age of the Anthropocene, the SAR conference was attended by hundreds of presenters, such as university students, lecturers, and professional researchers, coming from world top institutions and universities, such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Michigan, Toronto, Cambridge, Edinburg, SOAS, Melbourne, Sydney, Beijing, Taiwan, and many more. In that conference, I was the one and only presenter coming from Indonesian university, which is our beloved UIII. I shared my comparative findings about the roles of two prominent Indonesian Islamic mass organizations, NU and Muhammadiyah, in their stewardship towards environmental obstacles in Indonesia based on Wasatiyah principles. Actually, there was another Indonesian presenter, my colleague who is currently a PhD student in the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UCSB. He is the one who shared the information about this conference with me. Thanks to a friendship that turned into networking.
Thank God, in addition to being accepted as presenter, I also won a travel grant that is awarded to only five grantees in the SAR conference. I was so happy to be one of them. To apply for this grant, we are required to submit an accepted abstract, statement letter explaining why we fit the requirements, and latest CV. This grant was very beneficial to facilitate my U.S. Visa application as well as to financially support my departure to the USA.
The SAR conference, for me, is one of the most prestigious and essential academic forums I have ever joined. It presented expert scholars who shared their academic works that positively have direct impacts on wider society, including in the environment where the study was conducted. Additionally, their findings offer adaptable policies and recommend concrete actions that can be adopted by governments and the stakeholders, leveraging benefits of the research itself. Overall, their presentation really amazed me in the sense of the way they did their study, and this is what I mean by essential, that academic conferences become an inspiring platform to exchange knowledge and shape understanding through thoughtful and meaningful research for the goods of human beings as well as the environment.
Should I leave a message to encourage colleagues, as emerging scholars, to take part in such academic forums, I have three things to say. First I would say public events matter. Let us join in public lectures, such as seminars, conferences, book discussions, etc., that we think can enrich our knowledge and broaden perspectives even if the topic falls apart from the field of our study. Such programs often help unexpectedly connect our study field with other branches of disciplines. This combined-areas meeting can be crucial to discover distinct sights in conducting research as well as a key factor for collaborative study. The SAR conference topic is actually not really my study area since it is more on religion, society, and environment, while my major is education. However, I remember the fifth ClimateTalk on Muslims Environmentalism held by FOSS and a public lecture on Faith & Environment: Pragmaticism, Piety, and Ethics held by our university inspired me to write the paper.
Secondly I suggest that anything can be studied scientifically. Let us take benefits from classes, courses, or programs, such as writing clinics in our library, that offer us opportunities to learn research methodology, whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods. For me, research skills, such as collecting and analysing data, constructing conclusions or reflections, and knowing proper tools are keys that enable us to conduct a scientific study properly. Surely it is great if we can apply more than one method in doing research. But, truly mastering one approach only is already sufficient to study any human activities, events, or phenomena academically. So, instead of doing complex research such as field work for my paper in the SAR conference, I chose the most doable method for me by doing a comparative content-analysis study. I can do this because I have learned several research methodology courses previously.
Last but not least, thanks to the existing various communities in our university. I believe such Islamic Global Challenges (IGC) initiative under the faculty of Islamic Studies in our university is crucial for all civitas academia, including students and lecturers from any department. Such programs can serve as a platform for collaboration and contribution to increase our concerns toward global issues through research or real actions. Thus, our university should optimize their roles/functions so that the beneficiaries will also get more maximum. I strongly believe that the potential of IGC I mentioned in the SAR Travel Grant proposal form at that time became one of the most powerful reasons why I won the award.
Annual Conference
Annual Conference
Serving as a vital knowledge-sharing and networking platform for both students and the general public. It functions primarily to disseminate the latest research and trends within a specific field, featuring keynotes, workshops, and paper presentations by experts.
Nothing found.
The Basic Empathy Scale: Validation of Empathy Measurement of Pesantren Students in Indonesia
Rizkyanti, C.A., Hermansyah, E., & Wijayanti, Z. B. (2025). The Basic Empathy Scale: Validation of Empathy Measurement of Pesantren Students in Indonesia. Psikologika: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Penelitian Psikologi, 30(1), 1-24. https://journal.uii.ac.id/Psikologika/article/view/35976
Abstract
This study aimed to validate the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) using Rasch model to establish the reliability and validity of the instrument in measuring empathy. Participants in validation consisted of 200 students from Islamic Boarding Schools (Pesantren) in Java, Indonesia. This analysis was conducted using a quantitative method with Rasch model analysis by incorporating a Wright map, item fit analysis, a unidimensionality test, and Different Item Functioning (DIF). The results showed that the BES was reliable for measuring cognitive and affective empathy, confirming unidimensionality and item fit among participants. These findings implied that the BES was suitable for application among Islamic Boarding School students. DIF analysis further showed that some items might require revision to elicit more accurate results even though the instrument was considered valid and reliable.