Cadet Character Achievement in Aviation Vocational Education: Evidence from a Character-Based Non-Academic Assessment System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47709/ijmdsa.v5i4.9410Keywords:
Character Education, Aviation Cadets, Soft Skills Competency, Aviation Vocational Education, Character-Based Cadet DevelopmentAbstract
Character education is a crucial non-academic component in shaping professional and principled human resources for air transportation. This study aims to describe and compare the achievement of seven character dimensions among cadets (Religiosity and Morality, Integrity and Discipline, Responsibility and Work Ethic, Innovation and Critical Thinking, Effective Communication, Collaboration and Leadership, and Adaptability) based on the Non-Academic Assessment System (Sistem Penilaian Non Akademik/SPNA). The study employed a quantitative descriptive-comparative approach using individual scores of 159 cadets (population/census) across nine courses, extracted from the institution's official electronic assessment worksheets with institutional permission and data anonymization. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric difference tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis) due to the skewed score distribution resulting from a ceiling effect, complemented by comparative parametric tests (Welch's t-test, ANOVA, Cohen's d) and Spearman correlation. The results show that the average character achievement of cadets was generally high, with Effective Communication and Collaboration and Leadership as the dimensions with the highest achievement, while Integrity and Discipline showed the greatest variation among cadets. The TPPU group (n = 52; M = 81.34), a priori grouped by study program, showed significantly lower achievement than the non-TPPU group (n = 107; M = 98.63) across all seven dimensions (p < .001; Cohen's d = 4.38, a very large effect). Semester level was significantly positively correlated with character achievement in both groups; however, the TPPU-non-TPPU gap remained substantial even at the highest available TPPU semester, indicating that course-specific factors also play a role beyond education duration alone. These findings recommend a more intensive evaluation of character-based cadet mentoring patterns in the TPPU course, particularly in the Integrity and Discipline and Responsibility and Work Ethic dimensions.
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