Developing a Transformative–Spiritual Islamic Religious Education Learning Model to Address the Quarter-Life Crisis Phenomenon
Abstract
Quarter-Life Crisis (QLC) among final-year university students frequently manifests as cognitive dissonance and emotional distress. While Islamic Higher Education (PAI) has the potential to offer psychoeducational support, it often remains focused on normative-cognitive domains. This study aims to design and evaluate the design validity and initial practicality of a Transformative-Spiritual Islamic Education Learning Model that integrates Mezirow's Transformative Learning theory with the concept of Tazkiyatun Nafs. Employing an Educational Design Research (EDR) framework (Plomp model), the study involved 7 experts (PAI curriculum specialists, psychologists, and counselors) for content validation, as well as 15 final-year undergraduate students (aged 18–25 years) exhibiting self-reported QLC tendencies for a limited practicality trial. Data were collected using expert evaluation rubrics, student reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews, subsequently analyzed using the Content Validity Index (CVI) and qualitative thematic analysis. Results demonstrate that the developed model prototype achieved high content validity with an score of 0.89. Findings from the limited field trial indicate that the model is practical and supports students in fostering spiritual coping mechanisms (through patience, acceptance, and reliance on God) while mitigating subjective distress. This study underscores the model's potential as a supportive pedagogical framework in higher education and recommends future large-scale comparative quantitative trials to evaluate long-term outcome efficacy.
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