Implementing the Curriculum of Love (Kurikulum Cinta) in Islamic religious education: A mixed-methods study of public university students’ moderate attitudes

Amri Rahman (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Nurhilaliyah Nurhilaliyah (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Yusuf Hanafi (Universitas Negeri Makassar)

Referensi Islamika: Jurnal Studi Islam
Vol. 4 No. 4 (2026): AUGUST

This study explores the implementation of Kurikulum Cinta (Curriculum of Love) in the Islamic Religious Education (PAI) course at a public university and its relationship with students’ attitudes toward diversity. A convergent mixed-methods design combined qualitative and quantitative data collected concurrently. Qualitative data were obtained through interviews, classroom observation, and document analysis involving two PAI lecturers, one coordinator, and eight students. Quantitative data were collected from 181 students using a 25-item Likert-scale questionnaire. Qualitative data were analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s interactive model, while questionnaire responses were categorized using ideal-mean and ideal-standard-deviation intervals. Kurikulum Cinta was implemented through participatory, dialogic, and value-reflective strategies integrated into the Semester Learning Plan (RPS), with the most complete documentation for one lecturer. Among students in the observed PAI course, 78.45% were classified as having very-high and 21.55% high levels of moderate attitudes concerning acceptance of difference, dialogue, empathy, and cross-identity interaction. Some students reported discomfort toward peers of different religious or ethnic backgrounds. Challenges included external social influences, uneven lecturer training in humanistic pedagogy, the absence of a standardized evaluation instrument, and lecturer-dependent implementation. Given the cross-sectional, single-site design without a baseline or comparison group, the findings indicate an association rather than a demonstrated causal effect. Sustained implementation requires training, clearer institutional policy, and a validated evaluation instrument aligned with indicators of religious moderation. The single-institution, non-random, cross-sectional design limits causal inference and generalizability. Future research should use quasi-experimental or longitudinal, multi-site designs. This study provides an empirical account integrating the planning, instruction, and evaluation of Kurikulum Cinta within a university PAI context, while recognizing evidence limitations for each component.