BANDUNG, fmipa.itb.ac.id, -Science Education Program 4.0 is a lecture program running with a multidisciplinary concept from two existing study programs, namely 70% of the course from Master’s Program in Teaching and 30% of the course from Master’s Program in Computational Science. It is hoped that with this concept, teachers can increase their competence both in scientific knowledge and skills and mastery of educational technology in the 4.0 era.

This program will begin to open at ITB Cirebon Campus located in Watubelah, for Semester I for Academic Year 2024/2025. In order to socialize this program, as well as the new study program that will be opened at the ITB Cirebon Campus, ITB organized an Open House event for two days, namely on Friday, February 2, 2024 at Swiss-Belhotel Cirebon and Saturday, February 3, 2024 at ITB Cirebon Campus located in Arjawinangun. On this occasion, it was attended by around 300 participants from various nearby areas, namely from around Majalengka, Kuningan, Indramayu, and Cirebon.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Jaka Sembiring, M.Eng., as Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs attended and opened the event on the 2nd day at the ITB Cirebon Campus. He emphasized ITB’s commitment to improving the quality of education for society. With the opening of a new study program at the ITB Cirebon Campus, it is hoped that it will have an impact on the surrounding area.

Dean of FMIPA ITB, Prof. Ir. Wahyu Srigutomo, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D., fully supported the team (academic and non-academic staff FMIPA ITB) on duty at the Open House event. On the first day, the Dean of FMIPA ITB in his speech informed good news about scholarships from ITB for several teachers who would enroll in the Science Education Program 4.0.

Meanwhile, Dean of Graduate School ITB, Prof. Dr. Eng. Suprijadi, M.Eng., presented the concept of multidisciplinary study programs while providing introductory information about the 4.0 industrial era, which is marked by changes in people’s lifestyles which are increasingly integrated with digital technology, the internet information era, and the presence of the use of machine learning. According to him, teachers are the key to transferring knowledge to students and preparing a golden generation that is ready to face technological advances and the industrial revolution 4.0. He also said that multidisciplinary knowledge is necessary to overcome the current challenges of globalization.

The Open House event became even more lively when the session explaining Master’s Program for teachers. Rindia Maharani Putri, Ph.D., became a moderator for this session. Meanwhile, Rizal Afgani, Ph.D., presented Master’s Program in Mathematics Teaching, Dr. Fiki Taufik Akbar Sobar presented Master’s Program in Physics Teaching, and Dr. M. Yudhistira Azis presented Master’s Program in Chemistry Teaching. These three programs have been opened since 2008 at the ITB Ganesha Campus, and then to provide greater opportunities for teachers to continue their studies, they will be opened specifically at the ITB Watubelah Cirebon Campus through Science Education Program 4.0. This program offers multidisciplinary lecture concepts by strengthening correct understanding of science without misconceptions, improving skills in designing virtual experiments, and mastery in visualization of scientific data processing. All of these things will be useful for increasing teacher competency in the industry 4.0. A comprehensive explanation of changes in the educational paradigm in the industry 4.0 and the introduction of the Science Education Program 4.0 was presented by Dr. Wahyu Hidayat. This program provides flexibility in designing lecture schedules which allows teachers to continue carrying out their duties as teachers but can have the opportunity to study at the ITB Cirebon Campus.

The implementation of face-to-face lectures for Master’s Program in Science Education Teaching 4.0 at the Cirebon Campus will be focused on Fridays and Saturdays, and supported by structured assignments via online learning media. The opening of the Science Education Program 4.0 is part of FMIPA ITB’s support for improving the quality of secondary education in Indonesia in general and West Java in particular.

Registration for prospective student of ITB graduate program for the first semester of 2024/2025 will be carried out in 5 batches. The first batch had opened since February 13. Meanwhile, the last batch will be opened until July 18, 2024. Applicants who pass the selection series in these five batches will start studying in September 2024. Complete information regarding registration for study programs within ITB can be accessed at admission.itb.ac.id.