"Unseen Barriers": Student Subjective Experiences and Dynamics in Practicum Learning Processes

Abstract

Lecturers often overlook obstacles in the practical learning process. These obstacles in the practical process are dynamic elements that the lecturer has designed. As a result of the overlooked obstacles, students feel unfairly treated during the practical process. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the experiences of students to uncover the obstacles and dynamics of the practical process. A qualitative approach was used to gather data from 73 students through open-ended questionnaires. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, with validation through peer debriefing techniques and inter-coder agreement to ensure validity. The research results identified four themes: (1) the density of class material and the need for pre-practical guidance; (2) obstacles due to geographical distance and group discrimination; (3) the affective transformation of students and the importance of the lecturer's presence in the field; and (4) damage to documents on devices and bias in grading penalties. These findings demonstrate that lecturers have overlooked obstacles in the practical process. This indicates that these obstacles will lower confidence in the classroom due to the inability to engage in the practical process. As a recommendation, lecturers need to implement a process-oriented assessment rubric, provide logistical flexibility for field assignments, and offer space for offline report writing.