A Multimedia Learning Approach to National Character Education: Utilizing Modern Song Arrangements for Indonesian Youth

Abstract

The erosion of nationalism among Indonesian millennial youth, driven by globalization and widespread consumption of foreign digital content, represents a critical concern for national character education. This study investigates whether millennial-arranged national song videos distributed through YouTube are associated with high levels of nationalist sentiment among Indonesian youth. Using a one-group post-test design, 207 participants (aged 19–25 years) viewed four curated millennial-arranged national song videos and completed a structured questionnaire. Grounded in the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning Mayer, Social Cognitive Theory Bandura, Uses and Gratification Theory Katz et, Semiotic Theory, and Emotional Learning Theory, the study found that 56.8% of respondents reported the highest level of love for the homeland (Scale 5). "Tanah Air" (55.1%) and "Wonderland Indonesia" (34.8%) were most influential. These findings suggest that creatively arranged audiovisual content on YouTube is associated with high nationalist sentiment among Indonesia’s digital-native generation, though causal inference requires further controlled experimentation. Implications for character education policy and digital pedagogy are discussed.