For the second time, a student of the University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur took part in “Wednesday Forum” of CRCS/ICRS. The previous theme raised was about the issue of sleeping, and for 20 October 2010 discussion, the theme raised was about the concepts of reward and punishment within the educational system.
Moderated by Nyong Eka Teguh Imam Santoso from ICRS, the forum presented Mohamad Khairul Bajuri, a graduate student of philosophy from University of Malaya, who explored the title of “Use of Reinforcement in Learning: Content Analysis from Behavioral Science and Islamic Perspectives.” Bajuri delivered the results of a research he conducted in several institutions of Islamic education in Malaysia. Before conducting field observation, the research was initially begun with literature reviews from both scientific literatures, mainly psychology, and Islamic literatures.
According to Bajuri, the learning process is an inherent element of the Islamic teaching. He quoted some verses of Al Quran and Hadith narratives that explain about the learning process of which Prophet Muhammad as well as some other Muslim scholars had implemented the use of applied learning concept. Nevertheless, Bajuri chose the concept of learning process which is formulated by several scholars of behavioral psychology.
Bajuri came to some research findings that the concept of reward and punishment occupies an important position in the learning process according to both scientific and Islamic perspectives. The similarity found at the level of conception was then combined with the analysis of field findings. He proceeded to a conclusion on the similarities between the Islamic and the scientific concepts that support the development of the learning process.
At the discussion, Dr. Mark Woodward, a guest lecturer at the ICRS and CRCS, criticized the use of the term Islamic perspective in the presentation. According to him, the issue of learning in Islam has a very broad spectrum that cannot be reduced simply to be a homogeneous perspective.
Some participants also criticized the methodology used in Bajuri’s research. The choosing of behavioral paradigm used in the research is questionable simply because behaviorism itself is no longer a major trend in psychology. Meanwhile, other participants suggested that the research description should be more concentrated by giving details of specific research location data, if possible, the location should be mentioned as a case study in the title of presentation.
To conclude the discussion, Bajuri expressed his gratitude and appreciation upon the valuable critics that would be made into considerations for the revision of research results before it goes to publication. Bajuri and his fellow also expressed their farewell as they were leaving soon and their gratitude to the CRCS and the ICRS for the assistance and cooperation. [MoU]