Tuesday, January 14, 2025, was a happy day for the academic community of FMIPA UNY, especially for the Statistics Undergraduate Study Program. Today, the Coordinator of Undergraduate Statistics Study Program, Mrs. Kismiantini, Ph.D. delivered a professorship inauguration speech in the field of Statistical Modeling, together with 5 professors from the Faculty of Education and Psychology (FIPP), Faculty of Languages, Arts, and Culture (FBSB), Faculty of Engineering (FT), and Faculty of Social Sciences, Law, and Political Sciences (FISHIPOL). The inauguration ceremony held in the Main Meeting Room of the UNY Rectorate Building was led by the Chair of the UNY Senate and attended by all members of the Senate as well as invited guests.

Starting her speech entitled “The Role of Statistical Modeling in Understanding Indonesian PISA Data”, Prof. Kismiantini explained the definition of statistical modelling and its use in various fields. Next, she presented the achievements of Indonesian students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, which tend to low, marked by an average achievement score lower than the achievements of member countries of the Organization for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD). It was also explained that the PISA 2022 data, collected from thousands of 15-year-old students in Indonesia, was available on the official OECD website and could be further analyzed using statistical modelling. Prof. Kismiantini also showed several statistical modelling of PISA data that she had done, including multivariate linear regression models, multilevel models, mediation models, and structural equation models. These various models revealed the factors that influenced the achievements of Indonesian students in PISA, both in mathematics, reading skills, and science skills. Efforts to improve these factors are expected to enhance students’ abilities and ultimately increase the achievements of Indonesian students in the upcoming PISA survey. In his speech, Prof. Kismiantini emphasized that several students from Undergraduate Statistics Program and Graduate Mathematics Education Program were also involved in statistical modelling research on PISA data. Several articles from student research with lecturers have been published in nationally accredited journals, international journals, and international seminar proceedings. Some articles were listed in the speech manuscript and available in her Google Scholar as well as Scopus account.

Congratulations to Prof. Kismiantini. We wish you all the best!