American Journal of Educational Research, 2017, Vol. 5, No. 4, 357-361 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/5/4/3 ©Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/education-5-4-3 A Needs Analysis for Poetry Appreciation Textbooks in Universitites: An Exploratory Study Oktaviani Windra Puspita * , Andayani, Herman J. Waluyo, Muhammad Rohmadi Indonesian Language Education and Literature Department, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Indonesia *Corresponding author: okta89pwd@gmail.com Abstract The objective of this study is to describe the needs for poetry appreciation textbooks in universities over the years. To collect data, researchers used a qualitative descriptive method and an interview technique involving university students and lecturers. The results of data analysis show that both university students and lecturers need textbooks on the poetry appreciation. Within a needs analysis framework, lecturers had a clear mode of perceptions of what they had been doing in terms of using poetry textbooks and talked about reasons why they focused on the literary appreciation. The use of poetry appreciation textbooks in lectures they deliver can help university students instill knowledge on the poetry appreciation through which they can pursue critical ideas, self-appreciation demands and character education values. In-class literary events are also grounded in interactive practices in which university students cooperate with each other in a range of lecturing activities: poetry reading, writing and discussing. This pedagogy implies that educational needs for poetry appreciation contribute to classroom literary culture, provision of poetry textbooks and university students’ engagement in poetry-related learning activities. Keywords: needs analysis, textbooks, poetry appreciation, character education, self-appreciation Cite This Article: Oktaviani Windra Puspita, Andayani, Herman J. Waluyo, and Muhammad Rohmadi, “A Needs Analysis for Poetry Appreciation Textbooks in Universitites: An Exploratory Study.” American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 5, no. 4 (2017): 357-361. doi: 10.12691/education-5-4-3. 1. Introduction Poetry appreciation textbooks have widely been used in universities as sources of information. Compiled by different authors, the generic structure and sequence of such textbooks may vary. Designed and used for the sake of literary learning or study of certain objects of knowledge and arts, poetry appreciation texbooks primarily contain the presentation of scientific principles, literary criticism [5] and assessment of poems. In a general term, a poetry appreciation is a result of critical thinking, and a quest for poetry intrinsic values in which systematic understading and interpretion are built to express literary messages to the world. Through appreciation activities, literary criticism is expected to arise in the readers’ minds, and most of all, in the world of poetry, alternative options to deal with the problems of real life [8] are worth considering. Therefore, poetry appreciation constitutes an integral part of movement through which poetry textbooks significantly require adequate attention in all contexts of literary theories [5] and practices. In many ways, however, there is an urgent demand to undertake a needs analysis for poetry appreciation textbooks because its contribution to conceptualize poetry as self-discovery, performance and self-criticism needs to evaluate. In addition, poetry is a window of exploration in which an in-depth study commonly called an exploratory study can be done accordingly. An exploratory study is an initial stage of research and development to determine whether or not lecturers and university students are in need of poetry appreciation textbooks. That is why this study provides a great deal of insights into interviews with lecturers and university students to elicit related information on the use of poetry appreciation books in learning and teaching activities. Instead, on one end is a view of learning to explore core values behind every poem, popularly known as character education values in the 2013 Indonesian curriculum, and as a continuation of an exploratory study, students’ engagement in this poetry exploration should relate to quality instructional practices. In that sense, poetry appreciation textbooks in both private and public universities are exteremly needed, so that all lecturers and students use the textbooks to prepare for learning and teaching processes in class. As primary learning resources, poetry textbooks are crucial for lecturers and students across domains, and this view leads to the development of curriculum and pedagogy by providing a needs analysis to diagnose textbooks-related problems. Therefore, this article explores the ways in which poetry appreciation textbooks in universities are assessed within a needs analysis perspective involving lecturers and students. It also sets out to describe how poetry appreciation textbooks meet the needs of lecturers and students at Indonesian Language Education and Literature Departments of private and public universities in Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The benefits of this research are (1) to enrich the science and (2) to develop theories of poetry appreciation addressed in poetry textbooks for either lecturers or students in such universities.