Keywords
academic engagement
academic responsibility
student etiquette
second sila of Pancasila
How to Cite
Abstract
The phenomenon of back-row seating, or students’ tendency to choose seats at the back of the classroom, is common in lectures. Previous research has linked seating position to comfort, concentration, and academic achievement. Unlike those studies, this study emphasizes etiquette, academic responsibility, and the practice of the values of the second principle of the Indonesian ideology, Pancasila: Just and Civilized Humanity. The study aims to determine students’ opinions on back-row seating in terms of etiquette and responsibility, in line with the second principle of Pancasila. A descriptive quantitative method was used, involving 59 UIN Walisongo Semarang students who were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, and averages. The results show that sitting in the front improves understanding, focus, and learning responsibility. However, some students choose to sit in the back for comfort. These findings are expected to inform the development of students’ character.
References
Abdi, S., Nurfadillah, F., Az, K., Kamila, N. N., Akifah, S. H., Ningrum, Y. S., Nabila, N. S., Putri, A. U., & Budiarsy, A. (2023). Analysis of students’ discipline levels in learning activities. Jurnal Ventilator: Jurnal Riset Ilmu Kesehatan dan Keperawatan, 1(3), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.59680/ventilator.v1i3.444
Afifah, S. N., Putri, P. P. W., & Hanad, Q. A. (2025). Variations in seating arrangements: An effort to improve students’ learning concentration. Jurnal Ilmiah PGMI STAI Al-Amin Gersik, 4(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.54723/ejpgmi.v4i1.282
Azimpour, E., & Khalilzade, A. (2015). Hidden curriculum. World Essays Journal, 3(1), 18–21.
Azzahra, F., & Syamzaimar. (2026). Penerapan nilai-nilai Islam dalam pembentukan sikap kewarganegaraan mahasiswa. Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi, Pendidikan dan Teknik, 3(3), 53–59. https://doi.org/10.70134/identik.v3i3.1445
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059
Gao, N., Rahaman, M. S., Shao, W., Ji, K., & Salimm, F. D. (2022). Individual and group-wise classroom seating experience: Effects on student engagement in different courses. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, 6(3), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1145/3550322
Gumilar, A. T., Rahmat, R., Darmawan, C., & Anggraeni, L. (2025). Revitalizing project-based compulsory curriculum courses: Efforts to enhance civic engagement and civic character. Jurnal Moral Kemasyarakatan, 10(2), 884–898. https://doi.org/10.21067/jmk.v10i2.12472
Jackson, P. W. (1968). Life in classrooms. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Lestari, A. I., Mawadah, A. Z., Herlambang, G. A., & Auliya, L. (2023). Seating position determines learning concentration. Parade Riset Mahasiswa 2023: Psychological Security dalam Dinamika Kehidupan Mahasiswa, 1(1), 531–542.
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and Responsibility. Bantam Books.
Mendrofa, F. T., Laoli, O. C., Telaumbanua, R. K., Gulo, S. N., Gea, T. Y. N., Larosa, Y., & Waruwu, Y. (2025). Reasons why students prefer to sit in the back row of the class. Pedagogika: Jurnal Pedagogik dan Dinamika Pendidikan, 13(1), 252–259. https://doi.org/10.30598/pedagogikavol13issue1page252-259
Muhajir, A., Latief, A., & Tiara, M. (2025). Strengthening digital literacy and political culture among Generation Z through Pancasila education learning in higher education. Jurnal Kewarganegaraan: Media Kajian Kewarganegaraan, 22(2), 524–534. https://doi.org/10.21831/jk.v22i2.84845
Nuhamara, J. (2018). Prioritizing the dimensions of adab and morality in higher education. Jurnal Filsafat dan Etika Kontemporer, 4(1), 12–25.
Nur Annisa. (2021). The difference in English-speaking achievement between students seated in front and back rows in the classroom. Journal of Foreign Language Learning and Teaching, 12(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.23971/jfllt.v1i1.2702
Puspita, T. D., Irwansyah, W., N. F., & Naysilla, A. (2024). A comparison of adab and academic ethics concepts among students in religious and general faculties at UIN Sumatera Utara. Journal of Educational Research, 5(3), 52–61. https://doi.org/10.47827/jer.v5i3.193
Rachmad, Y. E. (2022). Educational engagement theory. Lüneburger Heide Buch Internationaler Verlag. https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/kgtcx
Samdani, & Lellya, I. (2021). The concept of Ta’lim al-Muta’allim within the adab culture of Islamic higher education in South Kalimantan. Khazanah: Jurnal Studi Islam dan Humaniora, 19(1), 127–144. https://doi.org/10.18592/khazanah.v19i1.4628
Seto, S. B., & Bantas, M. G. D. (2020). The influence of learning motivation and seating arrangement on learning outcomes in mathematics assessment courses. Jurnal Cendekia: Jurnal Pendidikan Matematika, 4(2), 526–533. https://doi.org/10.31004/cendekia.v4i2.259
Suyidno, Nur, M., Yuanita, L., S., T., & Praharani, B. (2018). Responsibility of PMIPA students at Lambung Mangkurat University in physics learning. Berkala Ilmiah Pendidikan Fisika, 6(1), 114–123. https://doi.org/10.20527/bipf.v6i1.4474
Ulum, K., Akbar, R. S., & Amarsyah, W. (2023). Educational discipline in teaching and learning. CV. Literasi Nusantara Abadi.
Will, P., Bischof, W. F., & Kingstone, A. (2020). The impact of classroom seating location and computer use on student academic performance. PLOS ONE, 15(8), e0236131. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236131
Yu, S., Zhang, X., Tao, R., Huang, W., Chen, J., & Xiao, X. (2025). Effect of seating location on undergraduates’ performance based on classroom size and quadrant surveying: A Chinese empirical analysis. SAGE Open, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241310667
Jurnal Moral Kemasyarakatan permits readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of its published articles and to use them for any other lawful purpose. The journal retains copyright of all published articles. Upon publication, copyright is transferred from the author(s) to the journal publisher.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .