Evaluating Affective Learning In Islamic Religious Education: Challenges And Solutions For Its Measurement

Islamic Religious Education (IRE) aims to develop students with intellectual competence, spiritual awareness, and strong moral character. However, IRE assessment remains predominantly cognitive-oriented, while affective assessment faces challenges involving assessor subjectivity, limited time, imbalanced teacher–student ratios, and social desirability bias. This study aims to identify challenges in affective assessment and propose more objective and comprehensive assessment strategies. Employing a qualitative library research approach, relevant scholarly literature was examined through descriptive and analytical methods. The findings reveal that the complexity of assessing attitudes and character, inadequate authentic assessment instruments, and behavioral interpretation biases constitute major obstacles. Accordingly, the study recommends integrating structured non-test instruments, including rubric-based observations, self-assessment, peer assessment, anecdotal records, and portfolios. Continuous assessment supported by triangulation across multiple instruments may improve the consistency and accuracy of interpreting students’ affective development. Therefore, strengthening teachers’ pedagogical competencies and developing context-sensitive assessment instruments are essential for achieving more authentic, systematic, and meaningful character assessment.