KARAKTERISTIK KESULITAN BELAJAR AKADEMIK PADA SISWA SEKOLAH DASAR DI SURABAYA (THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC LEARNING DISABILITY IN ELEMEN- TARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SURABAYA)

Paramita, Pramesti ( Fakultas Psikologi, Universitas Airlangga)

Jurnal Psikologi Indonesia
Vol 7, No 2 (2010)

Pembahasan mengenai fasilitasi pembelajaran siswa dengan kebutuhan khusus termasuk berkesulitan belajar, semakin menghangat. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengungkap karakteristik siswa berkesulitan belajar di wilayah Surabaya untuk mengetahui apakah ada perbedaan karakteristik kesulitan belajar siswa yang ditemui di lapangan dengan apa yang dikemukakan oleh berbagai teori terkait. Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif dan dibagi menjadi dua tahap. Tahap pertama mencakup identifikasi kesulitan belajar akademik yang dialami siswa kelas III, IV dan V pada empat Sekolah Dasar Negeri di Surabaya. Tahap kedua mencakup pengumpulan data secara lebih spesifik pada sepuluh orang siswa yang pada tahap pertama terindikasi mengalami kesulitan belajar akademik. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan beberapa kekeliruan dalam membaca, meliputi membaca dengan tersendat-sendat/tidak lancar, menghilangkan kata, mengganti kata dan tidak memperhatikan tanda baca; serta beberapa kekeliruan dalam menulis, mencakup kurangnya spasi dan hilangnya huruf konsonan di akhir atau tengah kalimat. Jenis kekeliruan terakhir inilah kiranya yang terkait dengan aspek fonologis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Kesulitan matematika siswa tampaknya bersumber dari pemahaman yang kurang akan proses matematika dan soal cerita. Perlu studi lanjutan dengan sampel yang lebih besar mengenai karakteristik siswa berkesulitan belajar di berbagai daerah di Indonesia, sehingga dapat dirumuskan definisi kesulitan belajar yang sesuai dengan konteks budaya dan bahasa di Indonesia. Dengan demikian dapat dirancang program intervensi dan fasilitasi pembelajaran yang benar-benar sesuai dengan kebutuhan siswa.Kata kunci: kesulitan belajar akademik, karakteristikWithin the last few years, various researches have been done to develop the area of learning disability. This study aims to identify the characteristics of students with learning disabilities in Indonesia, particularly in the area of Surabaya, so it would be revealed whether there are any differences between the characteristics of students with learning disabilities within this community compared to those described by the existing theories of learning disabilities.This study is a descriptive study, which is divided into two phases. The first phase includes the identification of academic learning difficulties experienced by grade three, four and five students in four primary schools in Surabaya. The second phase includes a more specific data collection process on ten students that are indicated as having learning difficulties on the first phase. The results shows that reading errors includes influency, word omission, word substitution, and ignoring reading marks. Errors in writing includes lack of space and consonant omissions on the middle or the end of some words. In general, the last error seems to be influenced by the phonological aspect of Indonesian language. Meanwhile, the students’ difficulties in mathematics seem to be influenced by their lack of understanding of mathematical processes and essay questions. Implications of this study include the need of subsequent studies with larger samples regarding the characteristics of students with learning disabilities across many areas in Indonesia, so that a definition of learning disability that is more relevant to the Indonesian language and culture can be gained. Hence, interventions and learning programs which really suit the students’ needs can be designed.Keywords: academic learning difficulties, characterictis, Indonesia