The Education and Information Technology Study Program (PSTI) is a study program located within the Purwakarta Regional Campus. PSTI is the first study program to bring knowledge in the field of informatics from the 4 study programs currently running at the UPI Purwakarta Regional Campus. One of the initial challenges in establishing the PSTI study program was curriculum design. Preparing and developing the PSTI curriculum is not an easy thing considering that the field of information systems and technology is always developing and changing to become more sophisticated and innovative every year. This development has a big influence on changes in stakeholder demands for the competencies possessed by graduates.
The first step was taken by the head of the founding team of the PSTI study program, Prof. Turmudi, M, Ed, M.Sc, Ph.D invited curriculum expert Prof. Dr. Wachyu Sundayana, M.A as a speaker in the curriculum design workshop. He explained the guidelines for designing a curriculum in detail, such as the differences between ideal and actualized curriculum, basic concepts, objectives and principles for developing lecture tools, formulating learning outcomes and learning methods and evaluation. Next, the team conducted a comparative study of several study programs in one scientific group, including the Informatics Study Program, Brawijaya University and the Computer Science Study Program, State University of Malang. Apart from comparative studies with educational institutions, the team also conducted surveys and shared opinions with VEDC Malang. From this activity, many insights and similarities in perceptions were obtained, especially in the analysis of stakeholder desires as stated in the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework (KKNI) in the field of Information and Communication Technology.
From these various activities, it can be concluded that the needs of the industrial world are always changing along with technological developments. Currently, industry has entered the 4.0 era or better known as digital industry. The changing needs of the industrial world must always be responded to quickly by the world of education. Recognition of the “4Cs of the 21st century” skills – critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication – has grown as a core part of the education curriculum. Therefore, developing a curriculum system that is adaptive and anticipatory to the demands of the times, and easy to implement is a must. The PSTI curriculum must be able to respond to changes in demand appropriately and accurately.
Armed with solidarity, tenacity and discipline, finally the struggle of the PSTI Study Program Team led by Dr. Suprih Widodo, S.Si., M.T bore fruit. The Purwakarta Campus Information Systems and Technology Study Program has been accredited by BAN-PT and was officially established on April 2 2018 through Decree SK 2932/UN40/HK/2018.
Efforts to improve the quality of the PSTI study program did not stop there, after it was officially established, improving the quality of PSTI Lecturers' Human Resources (HR) was continuously carried out. This can be seen from the large number of lecturer human resources who are facilitated to take part in various trainings according to their scientific fields, including the Association for Information Systems Indonesia (AISINDO) workshop represented by Rian Andrian S,T.,M.T and Nuur Wachid Abdul Majid, S.Pd.,M. Pd, Bebras Computational Thinking workshop represented by Rizki Hikmawan, S.Pd., M.Pd. To support HR performance in implementing the vision and mission of the PSTI study program, Ahmad Fauzi, S.Si,.M.T and Taufik Ridwan, S.T.,M.T were appointed as representatives to take part in the workshop on writing scientific papers in English, and Dian Permata Sari, S.Kom,. M.Kom as a representative in the Online Learning System (SPADA) workshop.
The results of these efforts are proven by the fact that the high productivity of each PSTI lecturer's human resources continues to produce indexed scientific work publications in accredited journals at both the national and international levels. The improvement in the quality of human resources can also be felt when seen from the responses to the Teaching and Learning Activities (KBM) evaluation questionnaire by PSTI students which shows that the average satisfaction index is in the very high category. This shows that teaching and learning activities at PSTI are not static based on text books but are dynamic according to current needs based on research results, using varied learning strategies and methods, as well as fair and transparent learning evaluations.