The Perceptions and Learning Habits of Freshmen towards Independent Study Program in Intensive Course at Universitas Negeri Malang

“Independent learning”, is an approach to stimulate students’ autonomous learning. Independent learning places learners’ role in the center of the learning process and encourages them to become autonomous learners. At the English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang, the Independent Study (IS) has been conducted in the English Self-Access Center (ESAC) which accommodates various language learning activities. IS includes scheduled required session in which students have to work on their weaknesses as well as non-scheduled enjoyment sessions in which they can experience less formal language learning activities at their own convenience. The purpose of this research is to reveal these groups of students’ perceptions on some categories of items and see how the two groups would perform in IS in ESAC given their differences in many aspects including: English proficiency level and autonomy level. This research used a descriptive qualitative research design. A 20-item Likert scale was distributed to investigate the perceptions and learning habits of first-year English Department students in the fully required IS group and those in the partially-required IS group towards Independent Study Program at Universitas Negeri Malang. The subjects of the study were 100 English Department first-year students of ELT Program of 2016/2017 academic year. For the learning habits, the data were generated from the use of rubrics of activities frequency from students’ report booklets. The data are collected through the Likert scale, rubrics of activity frequency, and then analyzed descriptively. The results of the analysis yielded several findings. First, the students in the partially-required Independent Study session group were found to be closer to the characterization of autonomous learners than the fully required IS group looking by their perceptions on many topics. Most of the students from both groups indicated that they still maintain teacher dependency to some extent. In terms of learning habits, the two groups of students differ in trends during the IS Program implementation. Group A, the partially-required IS groups dominated in almost every category of activities listed. Based on the results of this study, some suggestions can be made. For the English Department, it is hoped that they can help students in raising the awareness on how important it is to be autonomous learners and realize the value of efforts and facilities provided by the institution, particularly in the form of ESAC and IS Programs. For further researchers,the study of the same topic with different parameters, angles and variables is encouraged to be conducted so that more is known of how to encourage learners to be autonomous.SUMMARYUmar, Muhammad. 2018. The Perceptions and Learning Habits of Freshmen towards Independent Study Program in Intensive Course at Universitas Negeri Malang. Thesis. English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisors: (1) Francisca Maria Ivone, S.Pd., M.A., Ph.D. (2) Dr.EnnyIrawati, M.Pd.Keywords:freshmen,perceptions, learning habits,independent study program“Independent learning”, is an approach to stimulate students’ autonomous learning. Independent learning places learners’ role in the center of the learning process and encourages them to become autonomous learners. At the English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang, the Independent Study (IS) has been conducted in the English Self-Access Center (ESAC) which accommodates various language learning activities. IS includes scheduled required session in which students have to work on their weaknesses as well as non-scheduled enjoyment sessions in which they can experience less formal language learning activities at their own convenience. The purpose of this research is to reveal these groups of students’ perceptions on some categories of items and see how the two groups would perform in IS in ESAC given their differences in many aspects including: English proficiency level and autonomy level. This research used a descriptive qualitative research design. A 20-item Likert scale was distributed to investigate the perceptions and learning habits of first-year English Department students in the fully required IS group and those in the partially-required IS group towards Independent Study Program at Universitas Negeri Malang. The subjects of the study were 100 English Department first-year students of ELT Program of 2016/2017 academic year. For the learning habits, the data were generated from the use of rubrics of activities frequency from students’ report booklets. The data are collected through the Likert scale, rubrics of activity frequency, and then analyzed descriptively.The results of the analysis yielded several findings. First, the students in the partially-required Independent Study session group were found to be closer to the characterization of autonomous learners than the fully required IS group looking by their perceptions on many topics. Most of the students from both groups indicated that they still maintain teacher dependency to some extent. In terms of learning habits, the two groups of students differ in trends during the IS Program implementation. Group A, the partially-required IS groups dominated in almost every category of activities listed.Based on the results of this study, some suggestions can be made. For the English Department, it is hoped that they can help students in raising the awareness on how important it is to be autonomous learners and realize the value of efforts and facilities provided by the institution, particularly in the form of ESAC and IS Programs. For further researchers,the study of the same topic with different parameters, angles and variables is encouraged to be conducted so that more is known of how to encourage learners to be autonomous.RINGKASANUmar, Muhammad. 2018. Persepsi dan Kebiasaan Belajar Mahasiswa Baru Terhadap Program Independent Study dalam Intensive Course di Universitas Negeri Malang.Skripsi. Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Negeri Malang.Pembimbing: (1) Francisca Maria Ivone, S.Pd., M.A., Ph.D. (2) Dr.EnnyIrawati, M.Pd.Kata Kunci:mahasiswa baru,persepsi, kebiasaan belajar, program independent study.“Pembelajaran mandiri”, adalah pendekatan untuk mendukung pembelajaran mandiri siswa. Pembelajaran mandiri menempatkan peran peserta didik di pusat proses pembelajaran dan mendorong mereka untuk menjadi pembelajar yang mandiri. Di Departemen Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Negeri Malang, Studi Independen (IS) dilaksanakan di Pusat Akses Mandiri Bahasa Inggris (ESAC) guna mendukung berbagai kegiatan pembelajaran bahasa. IS terdiri dari sesi yang diwajibkan di mana siswa harus membenahi kelemahan mereka, serta sesi ”enjoyment” di mana mereka dapat melakukan kegiatan pembelajaran bahasa non- formal. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkapkan persepsidua kelompok siswapada beberapa kategori dan melihat bagaimana kedua kelompok berkegiatandi ESAC saat IS, mengingat perbedaan mereka dalam banyak aspek termasuk: tingkat kemahiran bahasa Inggris dan tingkat otonomi.Penelitian ini menggunakan desain penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Skala Likert sebanyak 20 item dibagikan untuk menyelidiki persepsi dan kebiasaan belajar siswa tahun pertama Jurusan Bahasa Inggris dalam kelompok IS wajib dan siswa dalam kelompok IS sebagian wajib terhadap Program IS di Universitas Negeri Malang. Subjek penelitian adalah 100 mahasiswa tahun pertama Jurusan Bahasa Inggris dari Program ELT tahun akademik 2016/2017. Data kebiasaan belajardidapatkan dari penggunaan rubrik frekuensi kegiatan dari buku laporan siswa. Data dikumpulkan melalui skala Likert, rubrik frekuensi aktivitas, dan kemudian dianalisis secara deskriptif.Hasil analisis menemukan beberapa temuan. Pertama, para siswakelompok sesi IS yang diwajibkan sebagian ternyata memiliki karakterisasi peserta didik otonom daripada kelompok IS yang diwajibkan sepenuhnya berdasarkan dari persepsi mereka terhadap beberapa topik. Sebagian besar siswa dari kedua kelompok menunjukkan bahwa mereka masih bergantung pada guru. Dalam kebiasaan belajar, ditemukan perbedaan tren selama implementasi Program IS. Grup A, mendominasi di hampir setiap kategori kegiatan yang terdaftar.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini, beberapa saran dapat dibuat. Untuk Departemen Bahasa Inggris, diharapkan mereka dapat membantu siswa dalam meningkatkan kesadaran tentang betapa pentingnya menjadi pelajar mandiri dan menyadari nilai upaya dan fasilitas yang disediakan oleh lembaga, terutama dalam bentuk Program ESAC dan IS. Untuk peneliti selanjutnya, studi tentang topik yang sama dengan parameter, sudut dan variabel yang berbeda sangat disarankan untuk dilakukan sehingga lebih banyak hal diketahui tentang bagaimana mendorong peserta didik untuk menjadi mandiri