Volume I: Eco-Theology, Spirituality, and Environmental Ethics

Development of an Internal Quality Assurance System Based on the Wave Paradigms of Quality Assurance to Improve Graduate Competence (Development Study at the Islamic Early Childhood Education Study Program Institut Pesantren Babakan Cirebon)

  • Imam Sibaweh Institut Pesantren Babakan Cirebon, Indonesia
  • Dadan Rusman UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia
  • Bambang Samsul Arifin UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia
  • Mohamad Erihadiana UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia

Keywords

Educational Design Research; graduate competence; internal quality assurance system; pesantren; wave paradigms of quality assurance

Abstract

This study develops and preliminarily evaluates an internal quality assurance system based on Cheng's wave paradigms of quality assurance to improve graduate competence. The developed system positions internal, interface, and future quality assurance as its principal orientations, uses the Indonesian PPEPP cycle as the continuous-improvement mechanism, and incorporates pesantren values as the ethical foundation of implementation. The development study was conducted in the Islamic Early Childhood Education Study Program at Institut Pesantren Babakan Cirebon using Educational Design Research with the Plomp phases of preliminary research, prototyping, and assessment. Data were collected through interviews, observation, document analysis, focus groups, a two-round Delphi process, practicality and implementation instruments, and a one-group pre-test- post-test assessment involving 32 final-year students. Diagnostic mapping showed that internal quality assurance was the strongest dimension, whereas interface and future quality assurance required greater institutionalization, particularly in tracer studies, user feedback, digital competence, portfolio assessment, and evidence-based follow- up. The final system includes a pesantren value foundation, the PPEPP cycle, the three quality-assurance waves, a compact quality dashboard, a quality-review forum, graduate portfolios, external feedback, and integration with work plans and budgets. Three experts validated 30 indicators after two Delphi rounds, with full item-level agreement in the source dataset. Internal users rated the system as highly practical (M = 4.31/5), overall implementation reached 84.6%, and the mean graduate-competence score increased from 65.2 to 83.5 with a normalized gain of 0.53. These findings indicate that the developed system provides an operational closed-loop framework for improving graduate competence through internal effectiveness, stakeholder relevance, future readiness, and Islamic professional ethics.

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