Developing an Interactive Digital Learning Medium Grounded in the Deep Learning Approach for Grade IX Social Studies Instruction

Abstract

Social Studies instruction at the junior-secondary level in Indonesia has remained heavily lecture-based, limiting students' critical thinking and ability to connect content to real-world contexts. This study aimed to develop and validate an instructional medium grounded in the Deep Learning approach for Grade IX Social Studies and to examine its feasibility through expert validation and staged student trials. Using a Research and Development design structured around the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model, the medium was built with Google Sites and Canva and validated by content, instructional-design, and media experts, then trialed with students at SMP Negeri 1 Martapura through one-to-one, small-group, and field-test stages involving three, nine, and thirty Grade IX students, respectively. Data were collected using validation and response questionnaires and analyzed descriptively via percentage-of-ideal-score categorization. Results showed that all three expert validations and all three student-trial stages achieved "Excellent" or "Good" categories, with scores ranging from 80.5% to 92.74%, although a critical-thinking item in the one-to-one evaluation and an independent-use item in the small-group evaluation scored comparatively lower. These findings indicate that the developed medium is feasible for classroom use and supports practical implementation of Indonesia's Deep Learning policy in Social Studies education, while pointing to a continued need for refinements strengthening higher-order thinking and learner autonomy. The study offers teachers in similar contexts a validated, technology-based alternative to lecture-dominated instruction.