Journal of Insan Mulia Education

Map-Based Unplugged Coding in Elementary Social Studies: A Pre-Experimental Study on Third-Grade Students’ Computational Thinking Skills

Mila Marliana — 2026-09-30

This study was motivated by the importance of computational thinking (CT) skills in elementary school Social Studies learning, particularly for helping students decompose travel routes and understand map concepts. It aimed to examine the difference in third-grade students’ CT skills before and after learning that integrates unplugged coding with map media in Social Studies. A quantitative pre-experimental approach with a one-group pretest-posttest design was employed, involving 23 third-grade students (from an initial cohort of 26) in Class III-A at SDN 02 Sindangkasih. Data were collected using a five-item CT test covering decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking, and were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, a paired-sample t-test, and the Normalized Gain (N-Gain) index. The mean CT score increased from 45.87 (pretest) to 74.56 (posttest). The paired-sample t-test indicated a statistically significant difference, t(22) = -6.74, p < .001, with a large effect size (d ≈ 1.41), leading to the rejection of H₀ and the acceptance of Hₐ. The mean N-Gain was 0.54, falling into the medium category. These findings indicate that map-based unplugged coding was associated with a significant improvement in third-grade students’ computational thinking skills, although the absence of a control group means this improvement cannot be attributed to the intervention alone.

Generation Z’s Civic Engagement in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Integrative Literature Review and Implications for Civic Education

Rezki Setiawati — 2026-09-30

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the information environment in which Generation Z learns about and acts on public issues, yet existing reviews have examined AI and youth political participation without linking these changes to the goals of Civic Education. This study aims to synthesize how AI transforms Generation Z’s civic engagement and to identify its implications for Civic Education. An integrative literature review, reported in line with the PRISMA 2020 principles, was conducted on peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings, and policy reports published between 2023 and 2026 and retrieved from Scopus and Google Scholar in July 2026; 19 documents met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed through thematic synthesis. The findings reveal three interrelated shifts: (1) a shift in the spaces of engagement from physical and institutional settings to networked digital spaces; (2) a shift in the ways of engagement, as social media, civic technologies, and generative AI are used to access information, express aspirations, produce content, advocate, and mobilize; and (3) a shift in the capacity of engagement, as generative AI accelerates information processing and content production. These shifts are accompanied by misinformation, manipulation, privacy risks, and unequal access, while direct empirical evidence on Generation Z’s own use of generative AI for civic purposes remains scarce. The study contributes a three-shift conceptual model and concludes that Civic Education should integrate AI literacy, critical verification skills, digital ethics, and project-based civic practice so that Generation Z can participate critically, ethically, and responsibly.

Learning to Teach Under Pressure: Anxiety and Coping in Pre-Service English Teachers’ Microteaching

Hendrawan Apriano Idipasi — 2026-09-30

Microteaching gives pre-service English teachers teaching practice, but its performance and evaluative demands can provoke anxiety, and how specific sources of anxiety relate to specific coping strategies is unclear. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design in one class, this study examined relationships between dimensions of teaching anxiety and coping strategies among pre-service English teachers who had completed a microteaching course and explained them through participants’ accounts. Twenty students completed an adapted Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and a coping questionnaire, and Spearman’s correlations were exploratory and corrected for multiple comparisons. Six respondents, selected at the extremes of each anxiety category, were interviewed, and reflexive thematic analysis was combined with the questionnaire results in a joint display. Fifty-five percent of respondents were in the high anxiety category, with evaluation and observation rated highest, and the interviews linked anxiety to evaluation by the lecturer and classmates and to perceived readiness. Preparation and practice and learning through observation were rated the most helpful strategies. Two correlations (communication apprehension–learning through observation, ρ = .56; anticipatory performance anxiety–acceptance and avoidance, ρ = .48) were not significant after correction, and total anxiety was unrelated to total coping; coping differed across individuals, not by level of anxiety. The study adds a dimension-level mapping of anxiety sources and coping strategies in microteaching. Because anxiety appeared to be shaped by evaluation and readiness, lecturers can state assessment criteria early and provide structured rehearsal and peer observation. The small, single-class sample makes the findings exploratory.

Profile of Digital Competencies of Primary School Teachers in Pekanbaru: A Six-Dimensional Study Based on DigComp-DigCompEdu

Fitria Aristasari — 2026-09-30

Technological developments in education require primary school teachers to possess sufficient digital skills to effectively integrate technology into the learning process. Teachers' digital competence is typically assessed as a comprehensive overview, whereas analysis by dimension remains limited. This study aimed to map the digital competence of primary school teachers using six dimensions, based on DigComp 2.2 and DigCompEdu. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted among 120 primary school teachers in Pekanbaru, selected via simple random sampling. Data were collected using a 30-item Likert-based questionnaire (six dimensions, five items per dimension) and analyzed descriptively. The teachers' digital competence fell into the high category (M = 3.81; SD = 0.62), with 74.17% of the teachers falling into the high or very high category. Information and data literacy scored the highest (M = 4.12), while technology-driven problem-solving ability scored the lowest (M = 3.49), only 0.08 above the lower limit of the high category. The originality of this study lies in mapping six DigComp-DigCompEdu-based dimensions among primary school teachers in Pekanbaru. The findings indicate relatively good, but uneven, digital readiness across the different dimensions. This calls for differentiated training focusing on digital safety and solving technical problems.

Deconstructing Digital News: The Dissonance between Students’ Language Attitudes and Critical Literacy in the Misinformation Era

Taufik Taufik — 2026-09-30

The growth of digital news has increased exposure to misleading information and demands students’ ability to evaluate news critically. However, the gap between students’ attitudes toward journalistic language principles and their critical literacy competence remains underexplored in journalism education. This study examines this gap using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design involving 29 sixth-semester students at STKIP Yapis Dompu, Indonesia. Quantitative data were collected through an attitude questionnaire and a critical literacy test using manipulated news texts. Subsequently, six students were selected for semi-structured interviews and think-aloud protocols. The results indicate that students’ attitudes toward journalistic principles were relatively positive, while their critical literacy scores were comparatively lower. The correlation between the two variables was weak and not statistically significant, r(27) = .13, p = .491. Qualitative findings show that students relied on source reputation, factual information, and headlines, while paying less attention to framing, omitted context, and linguistic manipulation. Theoretically, this study extends research on the attitude–competence gap to critical news literacy in journalism education. Practically, the findings highlight the need to integrate critical evaluation of sources, evidence, language, and context into journalism instruction. The study concludes that positive attitudes toward journalistic principles do not necessarily translate into effective critical news evaluation.