Students' Perceptions, Creative Thinking Skills, and Practicum Results in Online and Offline Models

This study aims to describe perceptions, practicum results, and
students' creative thinking skills in online and offline practicums. This research is
ex post facto. The subjects of this study were 70 students of the 2016 and 2017
batches of the Department of Biology Education, University of Muhammadiyah
Malang. The two batches experienced different treatments; the 2016 batch took
offline practicums, while the 2017 batch took practicums online due to the
Covid-19 pandemic. The research instruments consisted of (1) student perception
sheets, (2) tests, and (3) creative thinking skills assessment instruments. Data
were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using one-way ANOVA and
Hotelling's T2. The study results show students' perceptions of offline and online
practicum. Students tend to understand the material better in offline practicum
than online, and students also think that offline practicum is more interesting than
online. Other findings indicate that students find it difficult to understand
procedures in online practicums compared to offline ones. In addition, students
experience technical problems in offline practicums, especially those related to
networks. In contrast, technical issues can be overcome in online practicums
because students can consult directly with practicum assistants. Analysis of
student practicum results shows no difference between offline and online
practicum results from the aspects of understanding and activeness. Meanwhile,
from the aspect of report value, the online practicum is better than the offline
one. This study also shows that students' creative thinking skills in offline
practicums are higher than online in terms of the four aspects of creative thinking
and three aspects of assessment, namely data analysis, work methods, and lists of
references. In general, student perceptions, practicum results and creative
thinking skills in offline practicums are better than in online ones.