Developing an Independent Curriculum: Village Development Project as an Equalization of Thesis

Abstract

The university curriculum is always required to be able to an-swer future challenges. On the other hand, universities have the responsibil-ity for producing quality human resources in nation-building. Evaluation and development of the curriculum are some of the best ways to improve the quality of education. Therefore, every policymaker needs to make this effort so that these two responsibilities can be fulfilled. In this development re-search, the researcher designed an independent curriculum to actually be implemented. As a result, there are two important aspects emphasized on at the core of the curriculum renewal being developed. The first is to strength-en student capabilities contextually through collaborative projects. The sec-ond is the involvement of partners in order to provide real benefits to the community. In this curriculum design, village development is a superior program that is carried out to integrate these two aspects. This effort is made because the village is one of groups vulnerable to the problem of poverty. The implementation design of these two aspects was finally developed suc-cessfully, and a village development project was offered to students as an equivalent thesis. This policy is a way considered effective and accepted pos-itively by various parties, including government, partners, and also students.