Ineffectiveness of Religious Education as Character Education in Islamic Higher Education

Character development in higher education is carried out, among others, through lectures on Islamic Education. This Islamic Education course, based on the characteristics of the material, is a subject that is full of value and has the potential to be the spearhead of character education. The implication of this assumption is that the learning paradigm in the lectures of Islamic Education should reflect the application of the principles and models of character education that emphasize aspects of value education and affective education. Private Islamic universities basically have more opportunities to develop the Islamic Education curriculum, both as a realization of higher education autonomy and as a result of the curriculum construction by the university itself. The implication is that the learning of Islamic Education will get the expected achievements, especially the formation of student characters in harmony with the religious values that have been taught to them. In fact, lectures on Islamic Education often use approaches that emphasize the transfer of knowledge. The Islamic Religious Education learning model needs to be developed and articulated based on constructivism models and centered on students as active learners, while lecturers play a role as mediators, dynamists, catalysts and inspirer of learning. The implementation of the development of the learning model is that Islamic Education lecturers need to develop pedagogical competencies in a sustainable manner. With these dynamics lectures on Islamic Education can be expected to be an effective educational and learning tool for the formation and strengthening of religious character.