Perception of Religious Lecturers of Higher Order Thinking Skills and Students’ Academic Performance in Online Learning

Higher order thinking skills are an important element in facing the challenges of the 21st century. The application of higher order thinking skills in religious materials has been a significant concern. However, the lack of knowledge about the importance in religious learning has not been widely studied, especially in lecturers perception. This present study examined the lecturers' perceptions of implementing higher order thinking skills and the relevance to student academic performance in online learning. It employed a descriptive quantitative approach and engaged 33 lecturers and 63 students selected using a purposive sampling technique. All respondents who were involved consciously agreed to become research participants. Furthermore, the data collection instrument used a Likert scale consisting of 11 statements, documentation of test questions used in learning, and student learning outcomes. Instrument validation involved two experts with a reliability score above 0.7 and was declared valid. The learning outcomes instrument uses questions at the end of the semester for lecturers in Islamic education courses. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25. The results showed that 65.3% of lecturers applied higher order thinking skills in making question items. However, the document analysis showed contradictory data in which the items were categorized as lower order thinking skills, in line with students' low learning outcomes of 55.56%. These findings indicated a discrepancy between religious lecturers knowledge and higher education expectations for students of religious education programs. This research contributes to the development of higher order thinking skills concept in online learning practices.