Definition of Psycholinguitics

Study of the mental processes involved in the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language. Much psycholinguistic work has been devoted to the learning of language by children and on speech processing and comprehension by both children and adults. Traditional areas of research include language production, language comprehension, language acquisition, language disorders, language and thought, and neurocognition.

An area of study which draws from linguistics and psychology and focuses upon the comprehension and production of language. Although psychologists have long been interested in language, and the field of linguistics is an older science than psychology, scientists in the two fields have had little contact until the work of Noam Chomsky was published in the late 1950s. Chomsky's writing had the effect of making psychologists acutely aware of their lack of knowledge about the structure of language, and the futility of focusing attention exclusively upon the surface structure of language. As a result, psycholinguists, who have a background of training in both linguistics and psychology, have been attempting since the early 1960s to gain a better understanding of how the abstract rules which determine human language are acquired and used to communicate appropriately created meaningful messages from one person to another via the vocal-auditory medium. Research has been directed to the evolutionary development of language, the biological bases of language, the nature of the sound system, the rules of syntax, the nature of meaning, and the process of language acquisition.

psycholinguistics, the study of psychological states and mental activity associated with the use of language. An important focus of psycholinguistics is the largely unconscious application of grammatical rules that enable people to produce and comprehend intelligible sentences. Psycholinguists investigate the relationship between language and thought, a perennial subject of debate being whether language is a function of thinking or thought a function of the use of language. However, most problems in psycholinguistics are more concrete, involving the study of linguistic performance and language acquisition, especially in children. The work of Noam Chomsky and other proponents of transformational grammar have had a marked influence on the field. Neurolinguists study the brain activity involved in language use, obtaining much of their data from people whose ability to use language has been impaired due to brain damage.

Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, and understand language.

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See also:

Mind & Brain

• Language Acquisition
• Child Development
• Intelligence
• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavior

Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how the human brain functioned.
Modern research makes use of biology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and information theory to study how the brain processes language.
There are a number of subdisciplines; for example, as non-invasive techniques for studying the neurological workings of the brain become more and more widespread, neurolinguistics has become a field in its own right. Psycholinguistics covers the cognitive processes that make it possible to generate a grammatical and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as the processes that make it possible to understand utterances, words, text, etc.
Developmental psycholinguistics studies infants' and children's ability to learn language, usually with experimental or at least quantitative methods (as opposed to naturalistic observations such as those made by Jean Piaget in his research on the development of children). Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary in nature and is studied by people in a variety of fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics.
There are several subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based on the components that make up human language..
For more information about the topic Psycholinguistics, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Psychopathology — Psychopathology is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress or the manifestation of behaviours and experiences ...  > read more

Social cognition — Social cognition is the study of how people process social information, especially its encoding, storage, retrieval, and application to social ...  > read more

Cognitive psychology — Cognitive Psychology is the school of psychology that examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. It had its ...  > read more

Neuropsychology — Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific ...  > read more

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Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how the human brain functioned. Modern research makes use of biology, neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, and information theory to study how the brain processes language. There are a number of subdisciplines with non-invasive techniques for studying the neurological workings of the brain; for example, neurolinguistics has become a field in its own right.
Psycholinguistics covers the cognitive processes that make it possible to generate a grammatical and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as the processes that make it possible to understand utterances, words, text, etc. Developmental psycholinguistics studies children's ability to learn language.

Contents [hide] 1 Areas of study 2 Theories 3 Methodologies 3.1 Behavioral 3.2 Neuroimaging 3.3 Computational 4 Issues and areas of research 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Areas of study

Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary and is studied by people in a variety of fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics. There are several subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based on the components that make up human language.
Linguistic-related areas:

• Phonetics and phonology are concerned with the study of speech sounds. Within psycholinguistics, research focuses on how the brain processes and understands these sounds.
• Morphology is the study of word structures, especially the relationships between related words (such as dog and dogs) and the formation of words based on rules (such as plural formation).
• Syntax is the study of the patterns which dictate how words are combined together to form sentences.
• Semantics deals with the meaning of words and sentences. Where syntax is concerned with the formal structure of sentences, semantics deals with the actual meaning of sentences.
• Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpretation of meaning.

Psychology-related areas:

• The study of word recognition and reading examines the processes involved in the extraction of orthographic, morphological, phonological, and semantic information from patterns in printed text.
• Developmental psycholinguistics studies infants' and children's ability to learn and process language, usually with experimental or at least quantitative methods (as opposed to naturalistic observations such as those made by Jean Piaget in his research on the development of children).

[edit] Theories

Theories about how language works in the human mind attempt to account for, among other things, how we associate meaning with the sounds (or signs) of language and how we use syntax—that is, how we manage to put words in the proper order to produce and understand the strings of words we call "sentences". The first of these items—associating sound with meaning—is the least controversial and is generally held to be an area in which animal and human communication have at least some things in common (See animal communication). Syntax, on the other hand, is controversial, and is the focus of the discussion that follows.
There are essentially two schools of thought as to how we manage to create syntactic sentences: (1) syntax is an evolutionary product of increased human intelligence over time and social factors that encouraged the development of spoken language; (2) language exists because humans possess an innate ability, an access to what has been called a "universal grammar". This view holds that the human ability for syntax is "hard-wired" in the brain. This view claims, for example, that complex syntactic features such as recursion are beyond even the potential abilities of the most intelligent and social non-humans. (Recursion includes the use of relative pronouns to refer back to earlier parts of a sentence ("The girl whose car is blocking my view of the tree that I planted last year is my friend.")) The innate view claims that the ability to use syntax like that would not exist without an innate concept that contains the underpinnings for the grammatical rules that produce recursion. Children acquiring a language, thus, have a vast search space to explore among possible human grammars, settling, logically, on the language(s) spoken or signed in their own community of speakers. Such syntax is, according to the second point of view, what defines human language and makes it different from even the most sophisticated forms of animal communication.
The first view was prevalent until about 1960 and is well represented by the mentalistic theories of Jean Piaget and the empiricist Rudolf Carnap. As well, the school of psychology known as behaviorism (see Verbal Behavior (1957) by B.F. Skinner) puts forth the point of view that language is behavior shaped by conditioned response. The second point of view (the "innate" one) can fairly be said to have begun with Noam Chomsky's highly critical review of Skinner's book in 1959 in the pages of the journal Language.^[1] That review started what has been termed "the cognitive revolution" in psychology.
The field of psycholinguistics since then has been defined by reactions to Chomsky, pro and con. The pro view still holds that the human ability to use syntax is qualitatively different from any sort of animal communication. This ability may have resulted from a favorable mutation or from an adaptation of skills evolved for other purposes. In support of the latter view is the theory that language serves group needs; better linguistic expression may have produced more cohesion, cooperation, and potential for survival. The con view still holds that language—including syntax—is an outgrowth of hundreds of thousands of years of increasing intelligence and tens of thousands of years of human interaction. From that view, syntax in language gradually increased group cohesion and potential for survival. Language—syntax and all—is a cultural artifact. This view challenges the "innate" view as scientifically unfalsifiable; that is to say, it can't be tested; the fact that a particular, conceivable syntactic structure does not exist in any of the world's finite repertoire of languages is an interesting observation, but it is not proof of a genetic constraint on possible forms, nor does it prove that such forms couldn't exist or couldn't be learned.
Contemporary theorists, besides Chomsky, working in the field of theories of psycholinguistics include George Lakoff and Steven Pinker.

[edit] Methodologies

[edit] Behavioral

Much methodology in psycholinguistics takes the form of behavioral experiments incorporating a lexical decision task. In these types of studies, subjects are presented with some form of linguistic input and asked to perform a task (e.g. make a judgment, reproduce the stimulus, read a visually presented word aloud). Reaction times (usually on the order of milliseconds) and proportion of correct responses are the most often employed measures of performance. Such experiments often take advantage of priming effects, whereby a "priming" word or phrase appearing in the experiment can speed up the lexical decision for a related "target" word later.^[2]
Such tasks might include, for example, asking the subject to convert nouns into verbs; e.g., "book" suggests "to write," "water" suggests "to drink," and so on. Another experiment might present an active sentence such as "Bob threw the ball to Bill" and a passive equivalent, "The ball was thrown to Bill by Bob" and then ask the question, "Who threw the ball?" We might then conclude (as is the case) that active sentences are processed more easily (faster) than passive sentences. More interestingly, we might also find out (as is the case) that some people are unable to understand passive sentences; we might then make some tentative steps towards understanding certain types of language deficits (generally grouped under the broad term, aphasia).^[3]
More recently, eye tracking has been used to study online language processing. Beginning with Rayner (1978)^[4] the importance and informativity of eye-movements during reading was established. Tanenhaus et al.,^[5] have performed a number of visual-world eye-tracking studies to study the cognitive processes related to spoken language. Since eye movements are closely linked to the current focus of attention, language processing can be studied by monitoring eye movements while a subject is presented with linguistic input.

[edit] Neuroimaging

Until the recent advent of non-invasive medical techniques, brain surgery was the preferred way for language researchers to discover how language works in the brain. For example, severing the corpus callosum (the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain) was at one time a treatment for some forms of epilepsy. Researchers could then study the ways in which the comprehension and production of language were affected by such drastic surgery. Where an illness made brain surgery necessary, language researchers had an opportunity to pursue their research.
Newer, non-invasive techniques now include brain imaging by positron emission tomography (PET); functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); event-related potentials (ERPs) in electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG); and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Brain imaging techniques vary in their spatial and temporal resolutions (fMRI has a resolution of a few thousand neurons per pixel, and ERP has millisecond accuracy). Each type of methodology presents a set of advantages and disadvantages for studying a particular problem in psycholinguistics.

[edit] Computational

Computational modeling—e.g. the DRC model of reading and word recognition proposed by Coltheart and colleagues^[6]—is another methodology. It refers to the practice of setting up cognitive models in the form of executable computer programs. Such programs are useful because they require theorists to be explicit in their hypotheses and because they can be used to generate accurate predictions for theoretical models that are so complex that they render discursive analysis unreliable. Another example of computational modeling is McClelland and Elman's TRACE model of speech perception.^[7]

[edit] Issues and areas of research

Psycholinguistics is concerned with the nature of the computations and processes that the brain undergoes to comprehend and produce language. For example, the cohort model seeks to describe how words are retrieved from the mental lexicon when an individual hears or sees linguistic input.^[2][8]
Recent research using new non-invasive imaging techniques seeks to shed light on just where certain language processes occur in the brain.
There are a number of unanswered questions in psycholinguistics, such as whether the human ability to use syntax is based on innate mental structures or emerges from interaction with other humans, and whether some animals can be taught the syntax of human language.
Two other major subfields of psycholinguistics investigate first language acquisition, the process by which infants acquire language, and second language acquisition. In addition, it is much more difficult for adults to acquire second languages than it is for infants to learn their first language (bilingual infants are able to learn both of their native languages easily). Thus, sensitive periods may exist during which language can be learned readily.^[9] A great deal of research in psycholinguistics focuses on how this ability develops and diminishes over time. It also seems to be the case that the more languages one knows, the easier it is to learn more.^[10]
The field of aphasiology deals with language deficits that arise because of brain damage. Studies in aphasiology can both offer advances in therapy for individuals suffering from aphasia, and further insight into how the brain processes language.

[edit] See also

Psychology portal

• Language acquisition
• Second language acquisition
• Human brain
• Neurolinguistics
• Animal language
• Educational psychology
• Language processing
• Speech perception
• TRACE model

[edit] References

1. ^ Chomsky, N; Skinner, B. F. (1959). "A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior". Language (Linguistic Society of America) 35 (1): 26–58. doi:10.2307/411334. ISSN 0097-8507. http://jstor.org/stable/411334. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Packard, Jerome L (2000). "Chinese words and the lexicon." The Morphology of Chinese: A Linguistic and Cognitive Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 284-309.
3. ^ Linebarger MC, Schwartz MF, Saffran EM. (1983). Sensitivity to grammatical structure in so-called agrammatic aphasics. Cognition, 13:361-92.
4. ^ Rayner, K. Eye movements in reading and information processing. Psychological Bulletin, 1978, 85, 618-660
5. ^ Tanenhaus, M. K., Spivey-Knowlton, M. J., Eberhard, K. M. & Sedivy, J. E. (1995). "Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension." Science, 268, 1632-1634.
6. ^ Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. (2001). DRC: "A dual route cascaded of visual word recognition and reading aloud." Psychological Review, 108, 204-256.
7. ^ McClelland, J.L., & Elman, J.L. (1986). The TRACE model of speech perception. Cognitive Psychology, 18, 1-86.
8. ^ Altmann, Gerry T.M. (1997). "Words, and how we (eventually) find them." The Ascent of Babel: An Exploration of Language, Mind, and Understanding. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 65-83.
9. ^ Seidner, Stanley S.(1982). Ethnicity, Language, and Power from a Psycholinguistic Perspective. Bruxelles: Centre de recherche sur le pluralinguisme. pp. 4-7.
10. ^ Seidner, Stanley S.(1982). Ethnicity, Language, and Power from a Psycholinguistic Perspective. Bruxelles: Centre de recherche sur le pluralinguisme. p. 11.

[edit] Further reading

A short list of books that deal with psycholinguistics, written in language accessible to the non-expert, includes:

• Belyanin V.P. Foundations of Psycholinguistic Diagnostics (Models of the World). Moscow, 2000 (in Russian) [1]
• Chomsky, Noam. (2000) New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Harley, Trevor. (2008) The Psychology of Language: From data to theory (3rd. ed.) Hove: Psychology Press.
• Harley, Trevor. (2009) Talking the talk: Language, psychology and science. Hove: Psychology Press.
• Lakoff, George. (1987) Women, fire, and dangerous things: what categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (ed.) (1980) Language and learning: the debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• Pinker, Steven. (1994) The Language Instinct. New York: William Morrow.
• Rayner, K. and Pollatsek, A. (1989) The Psychology of Reading. New York:Prentice Hall.
• Steinberg, Danny D., Hiroshi Nagata, and David P. Aline, ed. (2001) Psycholinguistics: Language, Mind and World, 2nd ed. Longman [2]
• Steinberg, Danny D. & Sciarini, Natalia. (2006) Introduction to Psycholinguistics 2nd edition. London: Longman.
• Aitchison, Jean. (1998). The Articulate Mammal: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. Routledge.
• Scovel, Thomas. (1998). Psycholinguistics. Oxford University Press.

Semantic Processing - Lexical Ambiguity Resolution

Uncertainty Reduction: Ambiguity Resolution Mechanisms in Language

[ Computational Modeling ]
Posted on: October 3, 2007 11:07 AM, by Chris Chatham

Ambiguity is a constant problem for any embodied cognitive agent with limited resources. Decisions need to be made, and their consequences understood, despite the probabilistic veil of uncertainty enveloping everything from sensory input to action execution. Clearly, there must be mechanisms for dealing with or resolving such ambiguity.
A nice sample domain for understanding ambiguity resolution is language, where problems of uncertainty have been long appreciated. The meaning of words in general (not to mention referents like "that" or "he") can be highly ambiguous (see "the gavagai problem"). A similar problem abounds in grammar, famously in the case of garden path sentences ("the horse raced past the barn fell"), where grammatical ambiguities are often completely overlooked until a differentiating word is encountered ("fell").
Most accounts of language emphasize the distinction between semantics (the meanings of words) and syntax (the rules involved in how words are put together - essentially, grammar). One might therefore suspect that ambiguity resolution in these two domains is separable. However, a classic Psychological Review article by MacDonald, Pearlmutter and Seidenberg describes a single ambiguity resolution mechanism which might operate both on semantics and syntax.

MacDonald et al emphasize that the same three issues turn up in both lexical and syntactic explorations of ambiguity resolution: the role of frequency information, contextual constraints, and issues concerning modularity v.s. distributed interactivity. I'll illustrate examples from both below:
Frequency Information. Words with approximately equally-frequent multiple meanings (e.g., "pitcher") show longer eye fixation times than those words with either a single meaning or those with highly biased meanings (where one meaning is much more frequent than the other). Similarly, in grammatical processing, the interpretation of garden path sentences was presumed by Chomskian theory to be accomplished by a grammatical parser with no access to frequency information, and yet some work demonstrates that the frequency of words used in garden path sentences may influence the interpretation subjects adopt to resolve the ambiguity of those sentences.
Contextual Information. In research on the influence of context on semantics, some studies have shown that words with multiple meanings have all the potential meanings activated automatically, while other studies have shown that the context in which the word appears does influence the extent to which certain meanings become activated (as determined through priming studies), even when the context doesn't seem to directly prime the ambiguous word's various meanings. Similarly, in research on syntax, context has been shown to influence the interpretation of garden path sentences, contradicting other accounts (e.g., minimal attachment algorithms) of garden path sentence processing.
Representation: Modularity vs Distributed Processing. Although many researchers emphasize that the multiple meanings of words seem to be accessed from memory, as though each meaning comprises a different record in a master database of all meanings (sometimes called the "mental lexicon"), other research has demonstrated that meanings interact with one another through the frequency and contextual effects described above. Thus, lexical access seems compatible with what might be expected from a distributed (i.e., connectionist) rather than modular (database-like, to simplify) representation. Similarly, in grammatical processing, early Chomskian theory presumed that grammatical rules were unrelated to the particular lexical entries of a particular language, whereas later Chomskian and related theories (e.g., Government Binding theory) proposed a much tighter interaction between semantics and grammar, suggestive again of more distributed and less modular processing.
Rather than reflecting mere coincidence, MacDonald et al propose that the similar theoretical, methodological and empirical issues surrounding lexical and syntactic processing reflect a fundamentally similar mechanism underlying the resolution of ambiguity in all of linguistic processing.
Specifically, they suggest that the cortical representation of words is distributed, such that many neurons participate in the representation of many words and that those representations differ mostly in the degrees to which various neurons contribute to those representations. Critically, these networks encode not only semantic information but also syntactic information (for example, tense, voice, person, gender, etc). Nodes which represent mutually compatible interpretations of a sentence are connected in an excitatory fashion, whereas those representing mutually incompatible interpretations are connected with inhibitory links; thus syntactic structures can be activated in a more graded fashion, in contrast to the "all-or-none" selection of grammatical structures implied by other views.
In this system, ambiguity resolution is accomplished by a winner-take-all process, at both the level of the individual words (which contain multiple meanings and related grammatical structures) and at the level of the larger linguistic context (where the "winning" patterns of activity from previous words may have a carry-over influence on activity elicited by the currently-processed word). The authors go on to account for a variety of syntactic ambiguities using this model, and demonstrate that the same lexical and contextual effects hold across these phenomena, as predicted by their unitary model of linguistic processing. It's interesting to note that some later connectionist models of language adopted a dual route mechanism, one route relying on phonological and another relying on orthographic information, to explain past tense formation. Although MacDonald et al advocate a single mechanism, they do not appear to have implemented this theory in all its scope, so it's unclear what kinds of architectural changes might be necessary to get it to work properly.
(taken from here)

Classroom Action Research III

Madison Metropolitan School District

"Action research is the process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice jointly; raise awareness of their personal theory; articulate a shared conception of values; try out new strategies to render the values expressed in their practice more consistent with the educational values they espouse; record their work in a form which is readily available to and understandable by other teachers; and thus develop a shared theory of teaching by researching practice." - John Elliott

2009-10 Classroom Action Research Application

What is Action Research?	Five Phases of Action Research	Starting Points	Data Collection: The 5 W's and an H	Writing Prompts for Classroom Action Researchers	Ideas for Your Final Write-up
What Do Teacher Researchers Do?	Reasons to Do Action Research	Guidelines for Developing a Question	Techniques for Gathering Data	A Process for Analyzing Your Data	Impact of Action Research: Final Report to Spencer Foundation
What Are Some Effects of Teacher Research Projects?	Descriptors of Action Research	Guidelines for Data Collection	Guidelines for Analyzing Your Data	Role of Participants in a Group	CAR and Special Education Services
				Creating Equitable Classrooms Info

Classroom Action Research Abstracts and Selected Papers

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Classroom Action Research II

Classroom Action Research

(Keynote Speech in LIA’s 3^rd Research Colloquium)

By: Conny R. Semiawan

1. I. Prologue

Today, according to professional educators, the value of research lies in making it an integrated professional aspect of the job. This is the reason why the practitioner’s educational research is considered a part of our professionalism as teachers, not just an addition, but an extension of the job which will produce a valuable outcome because of the professional experience. This also explains the involvement which should be based on an intrinsic educational performance.
The concept of practical innovations is not anymore the prerogative of academic researchers but also the responsibility of the professional workers.

1. II. Concept

Classroom Action Research (CAR), therefore, as an integral part of action research (AR), deals with educational research as a social practice because as Elliot (1982 in Mc Niff, 1992) said: AR deals with a social situation to improve the quality of an action, the whole procedure of review, diagnosis, design, implementation, effect of the monitoring and the link between professional development and self evaluation. That is the reason why it is impossible for professional workers to become the object of research unless there is collaboration between the two parties. The value of AR lies in the fact that there is no split between the educational practice and the educational theory. It also reflects the changing culture in the investigation and the technological context that goes with it.
A very specific characteristic of CAR is that it is conducted in the classroom, that the focus of the study is the interaction between the researcher and the participants, and the researcher is involved as much as possible in the process and experience of the participants. An essential part of AR as well as CAR is the collaboration with the research participants in each stage of the research project, including identifying research questions, developing data collection procedures, analyzing the information and sharing the results.
Action Research implies a long term commitment to interact with the research participants. So the idea of just working with a group and/or going into a   classroom, collecting data on learning is not consistent with the ideal of action research.
AR as well as CAR is a straight forward practical approach to tackling issues of substance (Kember, 2000). The following four conditions are necessary:
-          it should be a form of strategic action susceptible to improvement
-          it should proceed through a spiral of circles: planning, actions, observing and reflecting which are all interrelated.
-          it includes other parties (colleagues, parents, etc)
-          it maintains collaboration in the context of research.

1. III. LIA’s English Teachers and Students

Since this research colloquium has been conducted twice, improvement of the research skill has been achieved. However, not much has been achieved in terms of acceleration of language development instruction because it is a new area of research.
Based on the current behavior research, a new linguistic program introducing accelerated learning can give us a small overview of what could happen, if we knew more about the latest information on neuroscience and its impacts on learning and on students with language talent.
By the time children reach school years most of them have mastered the basic rules of form and meaning. They pass the egocentric stage and are able to look at something with another person’s viewpoint. They are also engaged in social take and give. Mental development is also a major area of linguistic development, called pragmatics: the practical use of language to communicate. This includes both conversational and narrative skills.
Good conversationalists probe by asking questions before introducing a topic with which the other person may not be familiar. They quickly recognize a breakdown in communication and do something about it. However, there are significant individual differences in such conversational skills. Yet, in the majority of cases, when children aged 6 to 7 tell stories, they usually do not make them up. Stories that these children tell are more likely related to their personal experiences. The stories become longer and complex as children begin to describe motives and causal links. Consequently, those children construct more complex episodes than younger children, but with less unnecessary details.
Students with superior ability in language tend to display common characteristics, especially by the time they reach junior high school where language fluency rapidly develops. This is the background of how the brain works where rapid development of such language growth occurs (and how it could be accelerated) and we hope that input from recent research can give us new insights into accelerated language learning.
As Barbara Clark explains in her book “Growing up Gifted”:
The nerve cell, or neuron, is the basic unit of the brain. It is composed of the cell body, dendrites, and an axon. Inside the cell body are the nucleus and the biochemical processes that maintain the life of the cell. The neuron is a tiny system for information processing that receives and sends thousands of signals. No two cells are exactly alike nor are any two brains alike. We are as different from one another as snowflakes. The dendrites are short fibers that extend from the cell body, branching out to form the pathways for receiving information from nearby nerve cells. The axon is one long nerve fiber that extends from the cell body and serves as a transmitter, sending signals that are picked up by the branches of the neighboring dendrites. The activity between neurons is carried out by the dendrites of one cell in contact with the axon of another. The end of the axon does not actually touch the dendrite of the other cell but transmits the information chemically across a region where the cells are particularly close. This junction across which impulses travel from one nerve cell to another is called the synapse. The transmission of a nerve impulse is an electrochemical process. At the synapse, the electrical impulses that travel through the cell convert into chemical signals, then back to electrical impulses. It is this synapse that is thought to be the most likely site for neural mechanisms of learning and memory (Thompson, Berger, and Berry, 1980).
Surrounding the neurons are special cells known as glia. These cells outnumber the neural cells ten to one and can be increased by stimulation from the environment (Rosenzweig, 1966). The glial cells provide the brain with nourishment, consume waste products, and serve as packing material actually gluing the brain together. They also insulate the nerve cell, creating myelin, a special coating that protects the axon and amplifies the signal leaving the cell. Myelin has an important function, in that it allows the coated axon to conduct information away from the neuron at a much faster rate than unmyelinated axons (Thompson et al., 1980). As we increase the glial cells in the brain, we accelerate the speed of learning. It is rather like the difference that can be seen between electrical conduction through insulated and noninsulated wiring: the speed and power of the charge increase by the use of insulation.
We influence the rate of glial cell production by the richness of the environment we provide (Rosenzweig, 1966). The more glia, the more accelerated will be the synaptic activity and the more powerful will be the impulse exchange from one cell to the next, allowing for faster and more complex patterns of thinking, two characteristics we find in gifted children. The speed of thought is amazing. If a nerve pathway is used often, the threshold of the synapse falls, so that the pathway operates more readily. A wave front is started that may sweep over at least 100,000 neurons a second (Brierly, 1976).
Another way of increasing synaptic activity is by strengthening the neuron’s cell body. While we cannot increase the quantity of neural cells, we can increase the quality (Rosenzweigh, 1966: Krech, 1969, 1970). This quality enhancement allows again for information to be processed more quickly and for more power to be conducted, resulting in the availability of more complex neural networks. Interaction in an enriched environment changes the chemical structure of the neural cell, thereby strengthening the cell body.
It is by increasing the strength and the speed of transmission or synaptic activity that we can affect the process of learning. We can through changes in teaching and learning procedures affect the growth of dendritic branching, increase the complexity of the network of connections among neurons, and the quantity of glial cells. These are the differences we see in brains that show advanced and accelerated development. By the environment we provide, we change not just the behavior of children, we change them at the cellular level. In this way gifted children become biologically different from average learners, not at birth, but as a result of using and developing the wondrous, complex structure with which they were born. At birth nearly everyone is programmed to be phenomenal (Clark, B, 1983).
With this explanation, I would like to express a message that we can through CAR as a vehicle could change the teaching procedures to enhance learning, by providing an environment which could stimulate the talents of an individual, especially an individual with language talents.
Students with high ability in language do tend to display common characteristics, especially by the time they reach middle school where language fluency rapidly develops. Use the scale below to help decide if a particular student is gifted in language arts. If you rate the student with scores of 4 or 5 on more than half of the characteristics, then further assessment is warranted.

The student ….

A little       Some       A lot

Writes or talks in imaginative and coherent ways. Organizes text in a manner that is exceptional for the student’s age. Expresses ideas succinctly and elegantly. Writes with a flair for metaphorical and poetic expression. Takes the lead in helping a group reach its writing goal. Easily grasps the essence of a writing style and adapts it for personal use. Can capture and maintain the attention of an audience by using drama and humor in imaginative ways. Engages creatively and seriously with social and moral issues expressed in literature. Justifies opinions convincingly. Shows special awareness of language features, such as intonation, rhyme, accents in spoken language, and grammatical organization in written texts. Presents reason arguments at the hypothetical or abstract level in both spoken and written language.

1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5 1 —-  2 —- 3 —- 4 —-  5

Sousa, 2003

Reference

Clark, B. R. 1983. Growing up Gifted. USA: Merril Publishing Co.
Kember, D. 2000. Action Learning and Action Research. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Sousa, D.A. 2003. How the Gifted Brain Learns. USA: Convin Press Inc, ASa Publ. Co.
Thompson, e.a. in Clark, B. R. 1983. Growing up Gifted. USA: Merril Publishing Co.
Brierly in Clark, B. R. 1983. Growing up Gifted. USA: Merril Publishing Co.

Classroom Action Research

Classroom Action Research (click here) 

A. PENGERTIAN

Classroom action research (CAR) adalah action research yang dilaksanakan oleh guru di dalam kelas. Action research pada hakikatnya merupakan rangkaian “riset-tindakan-riset-tindakan- …”, yang dilakukan secara siklik, dalam rangka memecahkan masalah, sampai masalah itu terpecahkan. Ada beberapa jenis action research, dua di antaranya adalah individual action research dan collaborative action research (CAR). Jadi CAR bisa berarti dua hal, yaitu classroom action research dan collaborative action research; dua-duanya merujuk pada hal yang sama.

Action research termasuk penelitian kualitatif walaupun data yang dikumpulkan bisa saja bersifat kuantitatif. Action research berbeda dengan penelitian formal, yang bertujuan untuk menguji hipotesis dan membangun teori yang bersifat umum (general). Action research lebih bertujuan untuk memperbaiki kinerja, sifatnya kontekstual dan hasilnya tidak untuk digeneralisasi. Namun demikian hasil action research dapat saja diterapkan oleh orang lain yang mempunyai latar yang mirip dengan yang dimliki peneliti.

Perbedaan antara penelitian formal dengan classroom action research disajikan dalam tabel berikut.

Tabel 1. Perbedaan antara Penelitian Formal dengan Classroom Action Research

Penelitian Formal	Classroom Action Research
Dilakukan oleh orang lain	Dilakukan oleh guru/dosen
Sampel harus representatif	Kerepresentatifan sampel tidak diperhatikan
Instrumen harus valid dan reliabel	Instrumen yang valid dan reliabel tidak diperhatikan
Menuntut penggunaan analisis statistik	Tidak diperlukan analisis statistik yang rumit
Mempersyaratkan hipotesis	Tidak selalu menggunakan hipotesis
Mengembangkan teori	Memperbaiki praktik pembelajaran secara langsung

B. MODEL – MODEL ACTION RESEARCH

Model Kurt Lewin menjadi acuan pokok atau dasar dari berbagai model action research, terutama classroom action research. Dialah orang pertama yang memperkenalkan action research. Konsep pokok action research menurut Kurt Lewin terdiri dari empat komponen, yaitu : (1) perencanaan (planning), (2) tindakan (acting), (3) pengamatan (observing), dan (4) refleksi (reflecting). Hubungan keempat komponen itu dipandang sebagai satu siklus.

Model Kemmis & Taggart merupakan pengembangan dari konsep dasar yang diperkenalkan Kurt lewin seperti yang diuraikan di atas, hanya saja komponen acting dan observing dijadikan satu kesatuan karena keduanya merupakan tindakan yang tidak terpisahkan, terjadi dalam waktu yang sama

C. MASALAH CAR

Berikut ini merupakan hal-hal yang perlu dipertimbangkan pada saat menentukan masalah CAR.

1. Banyaknya Masalah yang Dihadapi Guru

Setiap hari guru mengahadapi banyak masalah, seakan-akan masalah itu tidak ada putus-putusnya. Oleh karena itu guru yang tidak dapat menemukan masalah untuk CAR sungguh ironis. Merenunglah barang sejenak, atau ngobrollah dengan teman sejawat, Anda akan segera menemukan kembali seribu satu masalah yang telah merepotkan Anda selama ini.

2. Tiga Kelompok Masalah Pembelajaran

Masalah pembelajaran dapat digolongkan dalam tiga kategori, yaitu (a) pengorganisasian materi pelajaran, (b) penyampaian materi pelajaran, dan (c) pengelolaan kelas. Jika Anda berfikir bahwa pembahasan suatu topik dari segi sejarah dan geografi secara bersama-sama akan lebih bermakna bagi siswa daripada pembahasan secara sendiri-sendiri, Anda sedang berhadapan dengan masalah pengorganisasian materi. Jika Anda suka dengan masalah metode dan media, sebenarnya Anda sedang berhadapan dengan masalah penyampaian materi. Apabila Anda menginginkan kerja kelompok antar siswa berjalan dengan lebih efektif, Anda berhadapan dengan masalah pengelolaan kelas. Jangan terikat pada satu kategori saja; kategori lain mungkin mempunyai masalah yang lebih penting.

3. Masalah yang Berada di Bawah Kendali Guru

Jika Anda yakin bahwa ketiadaan buku yang menyebabkan siswa sukar membaca kembali materi pelajaran dan mengerjakan PR di rumah, Anda tidak perlu melakukan CAR untuk meningkatkan kebiasaan belajar siswa di rumah. Dengan dibelikan buku masalah itu akan terpecahkan, dan itu di luar kemampuan Anda. Dengan perkataan lain yakinkan bahwa masalah yang akan Anda pecahkan cukup layak (feasible), berada di dalam wilayah pembelajaran, yang Anda kuasai. Contoh lain masalah yang berada di luar kemampuan Anda adalah: Kebisingan kelas karena sekolah berada di dekat jalan raya.

4. Masalah yang Terlalu Besar

Nilai UAN yang tetap rendah dari tahun ke tahun merupakan masalah yang terlalu besar untuk dipercahkan melalui CAR, apalagi untuk CAR individual yang cakupannya hanya kelas. Faktor yang mempengaruhi Nilai UAN sangat kompleks mencakup seluruh sistem pendidikan. Pilihlah masalah yang sekiranya mampu untuk Anda pecahkan.

5. Masalah yang Terlalu Kecil

Masalah yang terlalu kecil baik dari segi pengaruhnya terhadap pembelajaran secara keseluruhan maupun jumlah siswa yang terlibat sebaiknya dipertimbangkan kembali, terutama jika penelitian itu dibiayai oleh pihak lain. Sangat lambatnya dua orang siswa dalam mengikuti pelajaran Anda misalnya, termasuk masalah kecil karena hanya menyangkut dua orang siswa; sementara masih banyak masalah lain yang menyangkut kepentingan sebagian besar siswa.

6. Masalah yang Cukup Besar dan Strategis

Kesulitan siswa memahami bacaan secara cepat merupakan contoh dari masalah yang cukup besar dan strategis karena diperlukan bagi sebagian besar mata pelajaran. Semua siswa memerlukan keterampilan itu, dan dampaknya terhadap proses belajar siswa cukup besar. Sukarnya siswa berkonsentrasi dalam mengikuti pelajaran, dan ketidaktahuan siswa tentang meta belajar (belajar bagaimana belajar) merupakan contoh lain dari masalah yang cukup besar dan strategis. Dengan demikian pemecahan masalah akan memberi manfaat yang besar dan jelas.

7. Masalah yang Anda Senangi

Akhirnya Anda harus merasa memiliki dan senang terhadap masalah yang Anda teliti. Hal itu diindikasikan dengan rasa penasaran Anda terhadap masalah itu dan keinginan Anda untuk segera tahu hasil-hasil setiap perlakukan yang diberikan.

8. Masalah yang Riil dan Problematik

Jangan mencari-cari masalah hanya karena Anda ingin mempunyai masalah yang berbeda dengan orang lain. Pilihlah masalah yang riil, ada dalam pekerjaan Anda sehari-hari dan memang problematik (memerlukan pemecahan, dan jika ditunda dampak negatifnya cukup besar).

9. Perlunya Kolaborasi

Tidak ada yang lebih menakutkan daripada kesendirian. Dalam collaborative action reseach Anda perlu bertukar fikiran dengan guru mitra dari mata pelajaran sejenis atau guru lain yang lebih senior dalam menentukan masalah.

D. IDENTIFIKASI, PEMILIHAN, DESKRIPSI, DAN RUMUSAN MASALAH

1. Identifikasi Masalah

Dalam mengidentifikasikan masalah, Anda sebaiknya menuliskan semua masalah yang Anda rasakan selama ini.

2. Pemilihan Masalah

Anda tidak mungkin memecahkan semua masalah yang teridentifikasikan itu secara sekaligus, dalam suatu action research yang berskala kelas. Masalah-masalah itu berbeda satu sama lain dalam hal kepentingan atau nilai strategisnya. Masalah yang satu boleh jadi merupakan penyebab dari masalah yang lain sehingga pemecahan terhadap yang satu akan berdampak pada yang lain; dua-duanya akan terpecahkan sekaligus. Untuk dapat memilih masalah secara tepat Anda perlu menyusun masalah-masalah itu berdasarkan kriteria tersebut: tingkat kepentingan, nilai strategis, dan nilai prerekuisit. Akhirnya Anda pilih salah satu dari masalah-masalah tersebut, misalnya “Siswa tidak dapat melihat hubungan antara mata pelajaran yang satu dengan yang lain.”

3. Deskripsi Masalah

Setelah Anda memilih salah satu masalah, deskripsikan masalah itu serinci mungkin untuk memberi gambaran tentang pentingnya masalah itu untuk dipecahkan ditinjau dari pengaruhnya terhadap pembelajaran secara umum maupun jumlah siswa yang terlibat.

Contoh: “Jika diberi pelajaran dengan pendekatan terpadu antara geografi, ekonomi, dan sejarah siswa merasa sukar mentransfer keterampilan dari satu pelajaran ke pelajaran lain. Pelajaran yang saya berikan adalah geografi, tetapi saya sering mengaitkan pembahasan dengan mata pelajaran lain seperti ekonomi dan sejarah. Ketika saya minta siswa mengemukakan hipotesis tentang pengaruh Danau Toba terhadap perkembangan ekonomi daerah, siswa terasa sangat bingung; padahal mereka telah dapat mengemukakan hipotesis dengan baik dalam mata pelajaran geografi. Saya khawatir siswa hanya menghafal pada saat dilatih mengemukakan hipotesis. Padahal dalam kehidupan sehari-hari keterampilan berhipotesis harus dapat diterapkan di mana saja dan dalam bidang studi apa saja. Pada hakikatnya setiap hari kita mengemukakan hipotesis. Ketidakbisaan siswa itu terjadi sepanjang tahun, tidak hanya pada permulaan tahun ajaran. Kelihatannya semua siswa mengalami hal yang sama, termasuk siswa yang cerdas. Guru lain ternyata juga mengalami hal yang sama, siswanya sukar mentransfer suatu keterampilan ke mata pelajaran lain.”

4. Rumusan Masalah

Setelah Anda memilih satu masalah secara seksama, selanjutnya Anda perlu merumuskan masalah itu secara komprehensif dan jelas. Sagor (1992) merinci rumusan masalah action research menggunakan lima pertanyaan:

1. Siapa yang terkena dampak negatifnya?
2. Siapa atau apa yang diperkirakan sebagai penyebab masalah itu?
3. Masalah apa sebenarnya itu?
4. Siapa yang menjadi tujuan perbaikan?
5. Apa yang akan dilakukan untuk mengatasi hal itu? (tidak wajib, merupakan hipotesis tindakan).

Contoh rumusan masalah:

• Siswa di SLTP-X tidak dapat melihat hubungan antara mata pelajaran yang satu dengan yang lain di sekolah (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 1 dan 3)
• Grup action research percaya bahwa hal ini merupakan hasil dari jadwal mata pelajaran dan cara guru mengajarkan materi tersebut (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 2)
• Kita menginginkan para siswa melihat relevansi kurikulum sekolah, mengapresiasi hubungan antara disiplin-disiplin akademis, dan dapat menerapkan keterampilan yang diperoleh dalam satu mata pelajaran untuk pemecahan masalah dalam mata pelajaran lain (Ini menjawab pertanyaan 4)
• Oleh karena itu kita merencanakan integrasi pembelajaran IPA, matematika, bahasa, dan IPS dalam satuan pelajaran interdisiplin berjudul Masyarakat dan Teknologi (Ini manjawab pertanyaan 5)

Contoh pertanyaan penelitian:

1. Kesulitan apa yang dialami siswa dalam mentransfer keterampilan dari satu mata pelajaran satu ke mata pelajaran lain?
2. Apakah siswa dapat mentrasfer keterampilan lebih mudah antara dua mata pelajaran yang disukai?
3. Apa yang menyebabkan siswa menyukai suatu mata pelajaran?
4. Apakah ada perbedaan antara prestasi belajar siswa yang belajar dalam kelas mata pelajaran multidisiplin dibandingkan dengan mereka yang dalam kelas mata pelajaran tunggal?

E. KAJIAN TEORI DAN HIPOTESIS TINDAKAN

1. Kajian Teori

Dalam membuat rumusan masalah di atas sebenarnya Anda telah melakukan “analisis penyebab masalah” sekaligus membuat “hipotesis tindakan” yang akan diberikan untuk memecahkan masalah tersebut. Untuk melakukan analisis secara tajam dan menjustifikasi perlakuan yang akan diberikan, Anda perlu merujuk pada teori-teori yang sudah ada. Tujuannya sekedar meyakinkan bahwa apa yang Anda lakukan dapat dipertanggungjawabkan secara profesional. Dalam hal ini proses kolaborasi memegang peranan yang sangat penting.

Anda juga perlu membaca hasil penelitian terakhir, termasuk CAR, siapa tahu apa yang akan Anda lakukan sudah pernah dilakukan oleh orang lain; Anda dapat mengambil manfaat dari pengalaman orang itu. Manfaat lain yang lebih penting, Anda akan mengetahui trend-trend baru yang sedang diperhatikan atau diteliti oleh para guru di seluruh dunia. Sekarang ini sedang nge-trend pembelajaran yang bernuansa quantum teaching, quantum learning, contextual learning, integrated curriculum, dan competency based curriculum yang semua berorientasi pada kepentingan siswa. Jika penelitian Anda masih berkutat pada pemberian drill dan PR agar nilai UAN mereka meningkat, tanpa memperdulikan rasa ketersiksaan siswa, profesionalisme Anda akan dipertanyakan.

2. Hipotesis Tindakan

Lakukanlah analisis penyebab masalah secara seksama agar tindakan yang Anda rencanakan berjalan dengan efektif. Hipotesis tindakan dapat Anda tuliskan secara eksplisit, tetapi dapat juga tidak karena pada dasarnya Anda belum tahu tindakan mana yang akan berdampak paling efektif.

F. METODOLOGI

1. Setting Penelitian

Setting penelitian perlu Anda uraikan secara rinci karena penting artinya bagi guru lain yang ingin meniru keberhasilan Anda. Mereka tentu akan mempertimbangkan masak-masak apakah ada kemiripan antara setting sekolahnya dengan setting penelitian Anda.

2. Perbedaan Mengajar Biasa dengan CAR

Dalam melakukan CAR kegiatan mengajar standar (biasa) berlangsung secara alami; tetapi ada bagian-bagian tertentu yang diberi perlakuan secara khusus dan diamati dampaknya secara seksama. Langkah-langkah seperti pembuatan satuan pelajaran, rencana pelajaran, lembaran kerja, dan alat bantu pembelajaran lainnya adalah langkah pembelajaran standar, bukan CAR. Asumsinya CAR dilaksanakan oleh guru yang sudah melaksanakan pembelajaran standar secara lengkap tetapi belum berhasil. Ia akan memodifikasi bagian-bagian tertentu dari pembelajaran standar itu. Bagian yang dimodifikasi itulah fokus dari CAR Anda.

3. Tahap Perencanaan

Tahap perencanaan CAR sebaiknya hanya menguraikan hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan CAR. Jika ada perubahan pada satuan pelajaran misalnya, hanya bagian yang diubah saja yang perlu diuraikan secara rinci. Akan lebih baik jika perubahan itu diletakkan dalam konteks satuan pelajaran aslinya sehingga terlihat jelas besar perubahan yang dilakukan. Perangkat-perangkat pembelajaran juga hanya tambahannya yang diuraikan secara rinci. Jika pembelajaran standar telah dilaksanakan dengan baik perangkat pembelajaran yang diperlukan untuk CAR dengan sendirinya sebagian besar sudah tersedia.

Yang sering terjadi dalam CAR selama ini pembelajaran standar belum dilaksanakan sehingga CAR menjadi wahana untuk mewujudkan pembelajaran standar. Hal itu terlihat dari latar belakang yang diuraikan secara emosional oleh peneliti, umumnya menggambarkan pembelajaran yang sangat tradisional, buruk, dan di bawah standar. Setelah sekolah mendapat bantuan dana peningkatan kualitas pembelajaran pun uraian latar belakang itu tidak menunjukkan adanya perubahan yang berarti. Secara tidak langsung ditunjukkan bahwa perlakuan-perlakuan yang diberikan oleh pemberi dana selama ini berlalu tanpa bekas.

Tahap perencanaan bisa memerlukan waktu setengah bulan karena harus mempersiapkan segala sesuatu yang diperlukan, termasuk di dalamnya adalah penyusunan jadwal, pembuatan instrumen, dan pemilihan kolaborator.

4. Siklus-siklus

Dalam CAR siklus merupakan ciri khas yang membedakannya dari penelitian jenis lain; oleh karena itu siklus harus dilaksanakan secara benar. Siklus pada hakikatnya adalah rangkaian “riset-aksi-riset-aksi- …” yang tidak ada dalam penelitian biasa. Dalam penelitian biasa hanya terdapat satu riset dan satu aksi kemudian disimpulkan. Dalam CAR hasil yang belum baik masih ada kesempatan untuk diperbaiki lagi sampai berhasil.

Siklus terdiri dari (1) perencanaan; (2) pelaksanaan; (3) pengamatan; dan (4) refleksi; dan (5) perencanaan kembali. Yang diuraikan dalam siklus hanya bagian yang dimodifikasi melalui action reseach, bukan seluruh proses pembelajaran. Modifikasi atau perubahan secara total jarang dilakukan dalam action research yang berskala kelas karena bagaimanapun sistem pendidikan secara umum masih belum berubah.

Misalnya Anda akan memodifikasi pembelajaran dengan memperbanyak penggunaan carta. Dalam “perencanaan” yang Anda uraikan adalah tentang carta itu saja, misalnya “Tiap pertemuan diusahakan akan ada carta yang digunakan dalam kelas.” Dalam “pelaksanaan” Anda uraikan kenyataan yang terjadi, apakah benar tiap pertemuan bisa digunakan carta, misalnya “Penggunaan carta tiap pertemuan hanya dapat dilakukan selama dua minggu pertama; minggu berikutnya rata-rata hanya satu carta tiap empat pertemuan.” Anda tentu saja dapat mengelaborasi “pelaksanaan” itu dengan menyebutkan carta-carta apa saja yang digunakan, saat-saat mana yang paling tepat untuk penggunaan, siapa yang menggunakan, berapa lama digunakan, berapa ukurannya, di mana disimpan, dsb., dsb. “Pengamatan” didominasi oleh data-data hasil pengukuran terhadap respons siswa, menggunakan berbagai instrumen yang telah disiapkan. “Refleksi” berisi penjelasan Anda tentang mengapa terjadi keberhasilan maupun kegagalan, diakhiri dengan perencanaan kembali untuk perlakuan pada siklus berikutnya.

Dalam action reseach selama ini banyak siklus yang bersifat semu, tidak sesuai dengan kaidah yang sudah baku. Inilah kelemahan-kelemahan yang terjadi.

1. Dalam siklus diuraikan semua proses pembelajaran, sehingga tidak dapat dilihat bagian yang sebenarnya sedang diteliti. Seolah-olah seluruh proses pembelajaran diubah secara total melalui CAR, dan sebelumnya pembelajaran berlangsung secara tradisional, buruk, dan di bawah standar.
2. Tidak jelas apakah perlakuan dalam suatu siklus dilakukan secara terus-menerus selama periode tertentu, sampai data pengamatan bersifat jenuh (menunjukkan pola yang menetap) dan diperoleh dari berbagai sumber (triangulasi). Sebagai analogi, jika selama satu minggu suhu badan pasien menunjukkan suhu 37,5⁰ C; 37⁰ C; 37⁰ C; 37,5⁰ C; 37,5⁰ C; 37,5⁰ C; dapatlah disimpulkan bahwa kondisinya telah kembali normal. Itu digabungkan dengan data pengamatan lain selama seminggu juga seperti perilaku, nafsu makan, dan denyut nadi pasien, yang bersifat triangulatif.
3. Siklus dilakukan tidak berdasarkan refleksi dari siklus sebelumnya. Ada siklus yang dilakukan secara tendensius: siklus pertama dengan metode ceramah, siklus kedua dengan demonstrasi, dan siklus ketiga dengan eksperimen, hanya ingin menunjukkan bahwa metode eksperimen adalah yang terbaik. Peneliti ini lupa bahwa metode harus disesuaikan dengan karakteristik materi pelajaran. Untuk materi pertama boleh jadi justru metode ceramah yang lebih cocok.

5. Instrumen

Instrumen merupakan bagian yang tidak kalah pentingnya dalam pelaksanaan CAR. Jenis instrumen harus sesuai dengan karakteristik variabel yang diamati. Triangulasi dan saturasi (kejenuhan informasi) perlu diperhatikan untuk menjamin validitas data.

G. HASIL PENELITIAN

1. Siklus-siklus Penelitian

Hasil penelitian CAR tidak hanya berisi data hasil observasi, melainkan justru proses perbaikan yang dilakukan. Untuk itu siklus adalah cara yang tepat untuk menyajikan hasil penelitian. Data hasil observasi tidak disajikan secara terpisah melainkan dalam konteks siklus-siklus yang telah dilakukan.

2. Tabel, Diagram, dan Grafik

Tabel, diagram, dan grafik sangat baik digunakan untuk menyajikan data hasil observasi. Gunanya agar refleksi dapat dilakukan lebih mudah. Tetapi sajian yang cantik itu bisa menjadi blunder manakala angka-angkanya diatur sedemikain rupa sehingga terkesan artificial. Hasil yang begitu spektakuler seringkali tidak disertai dengan “bagaimana” proses untuk mencapainya, sehingga pembaca akan makin ragu.

3. Hasil-hasil yang Otentik

Hasil-hasil yang otentik seperti karangan siswa, gambar hasil karya siswa, dan foto tentang proyek yang dilakukan siswa akan sangat baik dicantumkan sebagai hasil penelitian.

H. KESIMPULAN CAR

1. Kesimpulan

Kesimpulan tentu saja harus menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan penelitian atau menguji hipotesis yang telah dikemukakan. Pertanyaan penelitian pada bagian D4 di atas di samping menuntut jawaban yang berupa hasil juga menuntut prosesnya. Marilah kita lihat pertanyaan-pertanyaan itu sekali lagi.

1. Kesulitan apa yang dialami siswa dalam mentransfer keterampilan dari satu mata pelajaran satu ke mata pelajaran lain ? Jawaban atas pertanyaan ini bisa diperoleh melalui tes awal dan atau selama proses pembelajaran berlangsung. Walaupun baru berupa daftar kesulitan yang dialami siswa, temuan ini cukup berarti bagi guru-guru lain. Kita sendiri pada saat ini belum bisa membayangkan kesulitan-kesulitan tersebut.
2. Apakah siswa dapat mentrasfer keterampilan lebih mudah antara dua mata pelajaran yang disukai ? Jawaban atas pertanyaan ini diperoleh setelah guru menghubungkan berbagai mata pelajaran dalam materi tes awal atau selama pembelajaran berlangsung, misalnya antara fisika dengan biologi, ekonomi dengan sejarah, dan bahasa Inggris dengan bahasa Indonesia.
3. Apa yang menyebabkan siswa menyukai suatu mata pelajaran ? Kesimpulan ini dapat diperoleh melalui kuesioner dan atau wawancara pada awal pembelajaran atau selama pembelajaran berlangsung.
4. Apakah ada perbedaan antara prestasi belajar siswa yang belajar dalam kelas mata pelajaran multidisiplin dibandingkan dengan mereka yang dalam kelas mata pelajaran tunggal ?Jawaban atas pertanyaan ini diperoleh setelah siswa diberi perlakukan yang berbeda; misalnya satu kelas diberi pelajaran multi disiplin, dan kelas lain diberi pelajaran yang terpisah-pisah, seperti biasanya. Ini tampaknya merupakan fokus dari CAR. Jika ditemukan bahwa mata pelajaran multidisiplin lebih berhasil dalam mengembangkan kemampuan transfer keterampilan antar mata pelajaran, peneliti perlu mengelaborasi bagaimana proses pembelajaran model multidisiplin tersebut berlangsung.

Jadi kesimpulan penelitian CAR akan kurang bermanfaaat jika bunyinya hanya seperti: “Pembelajaran dengan media akan meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa.” Kesimpulan ini mirip dengan yang diinginkan penelitian kuantitatif. Guru lain yang membaca kesimpulan ini tentu ingin mengetahui bagaimana prosesnya sehingga media itu bisa meningkatkan hasil belajar. Jadi kesimpulan itu masih harus diikuti dengan proses atau rinciannya, seperti a) Transparansi OHP lebih disukai siswa daripada media lain, b) Paling banyak hanya 10 transparansi dapat ditunjukkan dalam satu presentasi, jika lebih dari itu siswa akan bosan; c) Presentasi pada awal pembelajaran cenderung lebih disukai; d) Penjelasan yang terlalu lama terhadap satu transparansi cenderung membuat siswa bosan; dan e) Satu kali presentasi sebaiknya tidak lebih dari 20 menit.

2. Saran

Karena CAR bersifat kontekstual, pemberian saran kepada orang lain berdasarkan hasil penelitian tersebut sebenarnya kurang bermanfaat. Deskripsi konteks penelitian secara rinci sudah cukup untuk memberikan informasi bagi guru lain yang ingin meniru keberhasilan Anda. Saran seperti “Program CAR ini perlu lanjutkan dan diperluas untuk tahun-tahun mendatang,” juga kurang begitu perlu, bahkan kurang relevan.

Saran CAR diperlukan misalnya jika temuan penelitian menyangkut sistem yang lebih luas dari sekedar kelas, misalnya menghendaki adanya perubahan pengaturan jadwal pelajaran di sekolah. Dalam hal itu peneliti dapat menyarankan tentang jadwal yang diinginkan kepada fihak sekpolah.

I. DAFTAR PUSTAKA

Daftar pustaka mencerminkan penguasaan Anda atas teori belajar dan pembelajaran yang Anda minati. Di samping itu, sebagaimana telah disinggung sebelumnya, daftar pustaka mencerminkan keluasan pengetahuan Anda atas penelitian-penelitien terbaru yang sedang ngetren. Selama ini guru peneliti sering mencantumkan nama-nama ahli pendidikan, psikologi, dan pembelajaran tetapi tidak disertai dengan daftar pustakannya. Buatlah daftar pustaka secara cermat.

Sumber : Dr. Supriyadi M. Pd.*)) disajikan dalam Workshop MKKS Tingkat Pusat yang Diselenggarakan olah Direktorat Pendidikan Menengah Umum 12-15 September 2005 di Hotel Evergreen, Cisarua, Bogor.

*) Dr. Supriyadi M. Pd. adalah staf pengajar pada Jurusan Fisika FMIPA Universitas Negeri Jakarta.

Tulisan lain tentang Penelitian Tindakan Kelas disampaikan pula oleh Drs. Tatang Sunendar dari LPMP Jawa Barat.

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