BERPIKIR KRITIS: SEBUAH EKSPLORASI TERHADAP KEMJUAN MENULIS ARGUMENTASI MAHASISWA

CRITICAL THINKING: AN EXPLORATION

INTO LEARNERS’ PROGRESS IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Muh. Arief Muhsin. 2023. Berpikir Kritis: Eksplorasi Kemajuan Pembelajar dalam Esai Argumentatif. Disertasi. Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra, Program Pascasarjana Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Promotor: (1) Prof. Dr. Susanto, M.Pd., dan (2) Ko-promotor Prof. Slamet Setiawan, Ph.D.

Kata Kunci: Berpikir Kritis, Peserta Didik, Kemajuan, dan Esai Argumentatif

Menulis diartikan sebagai suatu proses berpikir dan mengungkapkan pikiran dalam bentuk karangan. Merupakan rangkaian kegiatan mengungkapkan pendapat atau gagasan dalam simbol bahasa tertulis yang dapat dibaca oleh orang lain. Menulis memerlukan kerumitan operasional untuk menyusun karangan dengan baik karena menyangkut pemikiran yang teratur dan berbagai persyaratan yang berkaitan dengan teknik menulis. Menulis akan menciptakan posisi bagi makalah atau esai argumentatif; itu menyatakan dan mendefinisikan tesis dengan memberikan argumen. Karangan argumentatif biasanya memuat ungkapan-ungkapan para ahli untuk mendukung pernyataan kita, yang hendaknya mengakui, dan menyikapi, sudut pandang yang berlawanan dan kelemahan pendapat kita. Posisi makalah telah peka terhadap makna kata, komunikatif untuk menghindari kebingungan verbal, dan agak terorganisir agar mudah memahami maksudnya.

Penelitian berpikir kritis diuraikan secara khusus berdasarkan komponen klaim, alasan, bukti, pengakuan pertentangan dan sanggahan, kesimpulan, dan kekeliruan dalam esai argumentatif. Teori ini dikemukakan oleh Stapleton (2001), dalam menganalisis tulisan argumentasi siswa di Jepang. Klaim tersebut dinyatakan secara kondisional untuk memberdayakan pemikiran kita dalam mengungkapkan argumentasi seperti klaim nilai, fakta, kebijakan, analitis dan sintetik, serta klaim berdasarkan teori. Selanjutnya Penalaran adalah suatu proses berpikir yang berangkat dari pengamatan yang menghasilkan suatu konsep dan pemahaman, artinya penggunaan pikiran untuk suatu kesimpulan sebagai kegiatan berpikir untuk mengelola informasi berdasarkan suatu pandangan dengan banyak pertimbangan. Lebih lanjut, Bukti adalah pernyataan atau penegasan yang digunakan untuk memperkuat argumen dengan berbagai bentuk seperti pengalaman pribadi, statistik, otoritas kutipan, atau studi penelitian. Lebih lanjut, Pengakuan atas pertentangan dan sanggahan atas pernyataan-pernyataan tersebut menawarkan sudut pandang alternatif terhadap pernyataan-pernyataan yang diungkapkan. Selanjutnya kesimpulan merupakan pernyataan yang digunakan untuk membuat pembaca mempercayai pernyataan penulis. Yang terakhir, Kekeliruan adalah jenis pernyataan kesalahan dalam penalaran, jenis-jenis kesalahan tersebut seperti setiap implikasinya, kesimpulan yang tidak relevan, dan generalisasi yang tergesa-gesa.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui unsur-unsur esensial berpikir kritis siswa dalam esai argumentatif yang meliputi (1) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritis 'mengklaim' dalam esainya, (2) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya. memikirkan 'alasan' dalam esainya, (3) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap bukti-bukti dalam esainya, (4) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap 'pengakuan pertentangan atau sanggahan' dalam esainya , (5) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap 'kesimpulan' dalam esainya, dan (6) kemampuan siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap 'kekeliruan' dalam esainya.

Penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Data dikumpulkan dari enam mahasiswa semester lima perguruan tinggi salah satu perguruan tinggi swasta di Makassar yang dipilih berdasarkan rekomendasi dosennya. Sumber data pertama berasal dari karangan argumentatif yang ditulis oleh mahasiswa, sedangkan sumber data kedua berasal dari wawancara yang dilakukan dengan dosen. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah pengumpulan dokumen esai argumentasi dan wawancara. Ditemukan bahwa mata kuliah penulisan akademik semester lima yang dilaksanakan dosen adalah konsep berpikir kritis. Konsepnya digunakan untuk menulis esai argumentasi oleh siswa. Sedangkan untuk mengkonfirmasi proses pengajaran dengan menerapkan konsep berpikir kritis, peneliti melakukan wawancara mendalam tidak terstruktur. Selanjutnya dilakukan triangulasi sumber data untuk memeriksa keabsahan data karangan argumentatif yang telah dikumpulkan siswa. Hal ini dilakukan melalui wawancara tidak terstruktur dengan dosen pengampu komponen berpikir kritis. Sumber data triangulasi adalah menggali kebenaran suatu informasi tertentu dengan menggunakan berbagai sumber data seperti dokumen, arsip, wawancara, dan observasi, atau juga dengan mewawancarai lebih dari satu subjek yang dianggap mempunyai sudut pandang berbeda. Peneliti juga melakukan wawancara tidak terstruktur pada waktu yang berbeda dengan dosen pengampu mata kuliah penulisan akademik untuk mengetahui derajat konsistensi data yang relevan. dalam melakukan wawancara, sebagian besar pertanyaannya sama dengan yang ditanyakan pada wawancara sebelumnya. Mereka masih fokus pada bagian berpikir kritis dalam penulisan argumentasi siswa.

Temuan penelitian mengungkapkan beberapa poin penting. Pertama, siswa mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap klaim tersebut dalam menulis esai argumentatif. Mereka menggunakan klaim berdasarkan jenis, sumber, dan teori. Berdasarkan jenis klaimnya, ditemukan penggunaan tiga jenis klaim, yaitu klaim nilai, fakta, dan kebijakan, dimana diantara jenis klaim tersebut banyak digunakan baik klaim nilai maupun fakta karena topik yang dikembangkan berkaitan dengan permasalahan sosial. Berdasarkan sumber yang diklaim, baik penggunaan analitis maupun sintesis ditemukan dalam esai argumentatif siswa. Namun, klaim berpikir analitis lebih banyak digunakan oleh siswa. Sedangkan berdasarkan teorinya ditemukan penggunaan klaim yang kuat dalam beberapa karangan argumentatif siswa. Kedua, dalam mengungkapkan penalaran berpikir kritis, siswa menggunakan penalaran induktif dan deduktif dalam menulis karangan argumentatif. Namun penalaran induktif lebih banyak digunakan, khususnya dalam jenis hubungan sebab akibat. Ketiga, kemampuan siswa dalam mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya terhadap bukti-bukti yang ditunjukkan dari penggunaan bukti-bukti baik yang bersifat anekdot maupun empiris dalam karangan argumentatifnya dimana bukti-bukti yang bersifat anekdotal tersebut dominan digunakan oleh siswa sebagaimana terdapat pada seluruh karangan siswa. . Keempat, kemampuan mengungkapkan berpikir kritis terhadap pengakuan pertentangan/ sanggahan yang dilakukan siswa ditunjukkan melalui penggunaan baik pengakuan oposisi maupun pengakuan sanggahan dalam karangan argumentatif yang ditulis oleh siswa dimana penggunaan tipe oposisi lebih dominan dibandingkan dengan bentuk oposisi. tipe pengenalan. Kelima, kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa dalam hal menarik kesimpulan ditunjukkan dengan penggunaan berbagai jenis kesimpulan dalam karangan siswa yaitu hipnotis, partikular, kategorikal, universal, dan disjungtif. Namun, kesimpulan kategoris dan universal lebih banyak diungkapkan dalam esai argumentatif siswa. Terakhir, kemampuan siswa dalam mengungkapkan pemikiran kritisnya yang bersifat fallacy ditunjukkan dengan ditemukannya tiga jenis fallacies dalam tulisan argumentatif siswa, yaitu dilema, false cause, dan tautological fallacies yang terjadi dalam menyatakan kesimpulan.

Kesimpulannya, penelitian ini menyoroti pentingnya berpikir kritis dalam menulis esai, karena membantu siswa mengembangkan keterampilan linguistik dan kognitif pemecahan masalah serta meningkatkan kemampuan mereka dalam mengatur argumen secara efektif. Selain itu, argumentasi secara tertulis menunjukkan kemahiran bahasa dan sumber daya perolehan pemahaman yang mengarah pada kesimpulan inferensi yang masuk akal.

Muh. Arief Muhsin. 2023. Critical Thinking: An Exploration into Learners’ Progress in Argumentative Essay. Dissertation. Language and Literature Education, Postgraduate Program of Surabaya State University. Promotor: (1) Prof. Dr. Susanto, M. Pd., and (2) Co-promotor Prof. Slamet Setiawan, Ph.D.

Keywords: Critical Thinking, Learners, Progress, and Argumentative Essay

Writing defines as a process of thinking and expressing thoughts in the form of essays. It is a series of activities to express opinions or ideas in written language symbols that can be read by others. Writing requires complexity of operations to compose essays properly because it involves regular thinking and various requirements related to writing techniques. Writing will create a position for the paper or argumentative essay; it states and defines a thesis by giving the argument. The argumentative essay usually contains experts’ expressions to support our statement, which should acknowledge, and respond, to an opposing point of view and weakness in our opinion. The position of the paper has sensitive to word meaning, communicative to avoid verbal confusion, and kind organize to easy understanding the point.

Critical thinking research is specifically described based on the components of claims, reasons, evidence, recognition of opposition and refutation, conclusions, and fallacy in argumentative essays. This theory was put forward by Stapleton (2001), in analyzing the argumentation writings of students in Japan. The claim is stated conditionally to empower our thinking in expressing argumentation like the claim of value, fact, policy, analytical and synthetic, and the claim based on theory. Next, Reasoning is a thought process that departs from the observation that produces some concepts and understandings, it means the use of the mind for a conclusion as a thinking activity to manage information based on a view with many considerations. Further,  Evidence is the statements or assertions used to strengthen the argument with many forms like personal experience, statistics, citing authorities, or research studies. Furthermore, Recognition of opposition and refutation of the statements offered an alternative point of view to the ones expressed. Hereinafter, the conclusion is the statements used to make the reader believe of writer's statements. The last, Fallacies are the statement types of errors in reasoning, types of them like every implication, an irrelevant conclusion, and hasty generalization.

This research aimed to investigate the students' essential elements of critical thinking in the argumentative essay which involves (1) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of ‘claiming’ in their essays, (2) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of ‘reasons’ in their essays, (3) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of evidence in their essays, (4) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of ‘recognition of opposition or refutation’ in their essays, (5) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of ‘conclusions’ in their essays, and (6) the ability of students to express their critical thinking of ‘fallacies’ in their essays.

The study employed descriptive qualitative research. The data was collected from six of the fifth-semester students of higher education in one of the private universities in Makassar who were selected based on their lecturer's recommendation. The first data source was from argumentative essays written by the students, while the second data source was from the interview conducted with the lecturer. The data collection techniques were used to collect documents of argumentation essays and interviews. It was found that the course of academic writing in the fifth semester carried out by the lecturer was the critical thinking concept. Its concept is used to write argumentation essays by the students. Meanwhile, to confirm the process of teaching by applying critical thinking concepts, the researcher carried out deep unstructured interviews. Next, The triangulation of data sources is carried out to check the validity of the argumentative essay data that students have collected. It is accomplished through unstructured interviews with the lecturer who taught the components of critical thinking. The source of triangulation data is exploring the truth of certain information by using various data sources such as documents, archives, interviews, and observations, or also by interviewing more than one subject who is considered to have a different point of view.  The researcher also conducted unstructured interviews at different times with the lecturer who taught academic writing courses to find out the degree of consistency of the relevant data. in conducting the interview, most of the questions were the same as those asked in previous interviews. They still focused on the critical thinking part of the student's argumentation writing essays. After conducting unstructured interviews at different times, the second set of data was collected and compared to the first set. If the data exhibited consistency, it would be possible to conclude that they are reliable. After doing the observation and interviews, it continued to the next of conducting the research which was known as the data analysis. The necessary data were obtained and analyzed using Miles, Huberman, and Saldana framework for qualitative data analysis through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The condensation was selected, focused, abstracted, simplified, and transform the raw data. Data display tried to organize and compress the data transcriptions to support the analysis. Drawing the conclusion or verification was the last step in analyzing the data. In this step, the analysis of the data is displayed in the form of a narrative mode or discussion. This was due to the mission of getting rich information or a thick description of the data analysis. Additionally, bibliometric Voss Viewer was used as supporting data to know the origin of the study.

The research findings revealed several important points. Firstly, the students expressed their critical thinking of the claim in writing an argumentative essay. They used claims based on the types, sources, and theories. Based on the claim types, it was discovered the use of three types of claims, namely value, fact, and policy, in which among these types, both value and fact claims were widely used as the developed topics were related to the social problems. Based on the claimed source, both the use of analytical and synthesis were found in the students’ argumentative essays. However, the claim of analytical thinking was predominantly used by the students. Meanwhile, based on its theory, it was found that the use of strong claims in some argumentative essays of the students. Secondly, in expressing critical thinking reasoning, the students used both inductive and deductive reasoning in writing argumentative essays. However, inductive reasoning was predominantly used, particularly in the type of causal relationship. Thirdly, the ability of the students to express their critical thinking of evidence showed from the use of both anecdotal and empirical evidence in their argumentative essays in which the anecdotal evidence was dominantly used by the students as it was found in all of the students’ essays. Fourthly, the ability to express the critical thinking of recognition of opposition/ refutation by the students was shown through the use of both opposition recognition and refutation recognition in argumentative essays written by the students in which the use of the opposition type was more dominant than the recognition type. Fifthly, the critical thinking ability of the students in terms of conclusion was shown by the use of various types of conclusions in students’ essays, namely hypnotical, particular, categorical, universal, and disjunctive. However, both categorical and universal conclusions were dominantly expressed in the students’ argumentative essays. Finally, the ability of the students in expressing their critical thinking of fallacy was shown by the discovery of three types of fallacies in the students’ argumentative writing, namely dilemma, false cause, and tautological fallacies in which it occurred in stating the conclusion.

In conclusion, this study highlighted the importance of critical thinking in essay writing, as it helps the students to develop their linguistic and cognitive problem-solving skills as well as to improve their ability in organizing their arguments effectively. Moreover, argumentation in writing demonstrates language proficiency and resource of comprehension acquisition leading to a sound inference conclusion.