Pancasila and Civic Education in Elementary Students’ Digital Ethics Awareness

Aris Fadly; Aiman Faiz; Asih Wahyuningsih; Novan Hardiyanto; Thomas Fadel Abdillah; Nabil Haidar Aly; Radja Maulana Akbar

doi:10.58421/gehu.v5i5.2079

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58421/gehu.v5i5.2079

Authors

Aris Fadly Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Aiman Faiz Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Asih Wahyuningsih Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Novan Hardiyanto Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Thomas Fadel Abdillah Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Nabil Haidar Aly Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon
Radja Maulana Akbar Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon

Keywords:

Civic education, Digital citizenship, Digital ethics, Elementary students, Pancasila

Abstract

Digital technologies shape how elementary students communicate, evaluate information, and interact with others, creating a need for digital citizenship grounded in ethical and civic values. However, how students connect everyday digital-ethical reasoning with Pancasila and Civic Education remains underexplored. This study examined students’ digital-ethical understandings and contextual factors shaping their responses within Pancasila and Civic Education. A descriptive qualitative design was the primary approach, complemented by paired pretest-posttest data. Participants were 27 fourth-grade students. Data came from semi-structured interviews, a 10-item true-false test, and contextual learning notes. Interview data were analyzed thematically, while quantitative data were examined descriptively and using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Students demonstrated ethical reasoning related to information verification, reparative responsibility, privacy and photo consent, empathy, and data security, with family and peer contexts shaping their responses. Quantitative scores showed no meaningful overall improvement. The findings reveal an ethical repertoire–curricular attribution gap: students expressed relevant digital-ethical understandings but did not consistently identify them as part of Pancasila or Civic Education. The study contributes a Pancasila-based digital citizenship framework linking civic values with ethical reasoning and intended digital behavior. Pedagogically, explicit connections between Pancasila values and concrete digital situations may strengthen recognition of digital ethics as civic learning.

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