Organizational Epistemic Infrastructure: Strategi Perguruan Tinggi Menghadapi Post-Truth

Widia Sri Ardias, Dr. Bagus Riyono, M.A., Psikolog; Dr. Sumaryono, M.Si., Psikolog

2026 | Disertasi | S3 Psikologi

Era post-truth, yang ditandai oleh meluasnya misinformasi, hoaks, bias informasi, kompleksitas informasi digital, dan melemahnya kepercayaan terhadap kepakaran, menuntut perguruan tinggi untuk mengembangkan berpikir kritis tidak hanya sebagai keterampilan kognitif individual, tetapi juga sebagai kapasitas yang didukung oleh proses sosial dan kondisi organisasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan merekonseptualisasi pengembangan berpikir kritis yang terbentuk melalui interaksi antara level individu, sosial, dan organisasi dalam ekosistem pendidikan tinggi. Penelitian menggunakan desain kualitatif multistudi yang terdiri atas tiga studi. Studi pertama berupa reviu literatur yang diawali dengan scoping review terhadap 26 artikel untuk memetakan faktor input, proses, dan output pengembangan berpikir kritis; kemudian dilanjutkan dengan meta-etnografi terhadap 16 artikel terpilih untuk menyusun sintesis konseptual mengenai strategi pengembangannya. Studi kedua menggunakan analisis tematik terhadap jawaban open-ended questionnaire dari 303 partisipan dan wawancara semi-terstruktur dengan 12 partisipan dari kalangan sivitas akademika Indonesia. Sedangkan studi ketiga menggunakan studi kasus interpretatif yang melibatkan sembilan informan, terdiri atas satu dosen dan delapan alumni yang mengalami kehidupan akademik dan kemahasiswaan Universitas Gadjah Mada pada era 1990-an. Hasil diskusi menyeluruh antar studi menunjukkan bahwa pada level individu, berpikir kritis berkaitan dengan epistemic cognition, yang mencakup epistemic aims, epistemic ideals, dan reliable processes, serta epistemic beliefs berupa pencarian kebenaran, toleransi terhadap ketidakpastian, keberanian intelektual, dan kesadaran kritis. Pada level sosial, perkembangannya difasilitasi oleh interaksi akademik dialogis, pertukaran argumentasi, refleksi, pembelajaran berbasis pengalaman, serta relasi yang aman dan terbuka. Pada level organisasi, proses tersebut didukung oleh organizational epistemic infrastructure yang mencakup sistem kurikulum dan pembelajaaran, kualitas kepemimpinan dan dosen, nilai dan budaya akademik, serta kebijakan dan infrastruktur institusional. Integrasi temuan tersebut menghasilkan kontribusi konseptual berupa pemahaman perguruan tinggi sebagai epistemic ecosystem, yaitu ekosistem tempat individu, proses sosial, dan struktur organisasi secara dinamis membentuk epistemic climate yang ditandai oleh pencarian kebenaran, evaluasi berbasis bukti, keterbukaan terhadap perspektif yang berbeda, dan tanggung jawab epistemik. Model yang dihasilkan merupakan sintesis konseptual atas pola keterkaitan antartemuan, bukan representasi hubungan kausal antar variabel. Temuan ini menegaskan pentingnya pengembangan organizational epistemic infrastructure secara sistematis agar perguruan tinggi mampu memperkuat ketahanan epistemik sivitas akademika dalam menghadapi tantangan era post-truth. 

The post-truth era, characterized by the widespread circulation of misinformation, hoaxes, information bias, the growing complexity of digital information, and declining trust in expertise, requires higher education institutions to develop critical thinking not merely as an individual cognitive skill, but also as a capacity supported by social processes and organizational conditions. This study aims to reconceptualize the development of critical thinking as a process shaped by interactions across individual, social, and organizational levels within the higher education ecosystem. The study employed a qualitative multi-study design comprising three studies. The first study involved a literature review, beginning with a scoping review of 26 articles to map the input, process, and output factors involved in critical thinking development, followed by a meta-ethnography of 16 selected articles to develop a conceptual synthesis of strategies for fostering critical thinking. The second study employed thematic analysis of responses to an open-ended questionnaire from 303 participants and semi- structured interviews with 12 members of the Indonesian academic community. The third study used an interpretive case study involving nine informants, comprising one faculty member and eight alumni who experienced the academic and student life of Universitas Gadjah Mada during the 1990s. The integrated findings indicate that, at the individual level, critical thinking is associated with epistemic cognition, encompassing epistemic aims, epistemic ideals, and reliable processes, as well as epistemic beliefs such as truth-seeking, tolerance for uncertainty, intellectual courage, and critical consciousness. At the social level, its development is facilitated by dialogic academic interactions, the exchange of arguments, reflection, experiential learning, and safe and open relationships. At the organizational level, these processes are supported by organizational epistemic infrastructure, which includes curriculum and learning systems, the quality of leadership and faculty members, academic values and culture, and institutional policies and infrastructure. The integration of these findings makes a conceptual contribution by framing higher education as an epistemic ecosystem in which individuals, social processes, and organizational structures dynamically shape an epistemic climate characterized by truth-seeking, evidence- based evaluation, openness to diverse perspectives, and epistemic responsibility. The resulting model represents a conceptual synthesis of patterns of interrelationships among the findings, rather than a representation of causal relationships between variables. These findings underscore the importance of systematically developing organizational epistemic infrastructure so that higher education institutions can strengthen the epistemic resilience of their academic communities in addressing the challenges of the post-truth era. 

Kata Kunci : Berpikir kritis, post-truth, epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, organizational epistemic infrastructure, ekosistem epistemik, pendidikan tinggi