Scaffolding Novice Web Authoring: A Pedagogical Design Analysis of an Indonesian HTML and CSS Textbook

Web authoring with HTML and CSS is a common entry point to computing education, yet beginner instructional materials are rarely examined for the learning principles they embody. This study analysed the pedagogical design of a 16-chapter Indonesian-language textbook for novice web authors. A design-analysis approach combining qualitative document analysis with frequency counts of learning components was applied to every chapter, using a coding framework built from cognitive load theory, scaffolding, constructive alignment, mastery learning, learning from errors, and project-based learning. The textbook contained 64 stated learning objectives, 46 code listings, 35 rendered-output figures, 23 instructional callouts, 15 practice tasks, and a recurring seven-part chapter structure. Guidance faded from modifying a supplied file to building a locally themed website independently, and a dedicated chapter treated eleven categories of common HTML and CSS errors. All nine requirements of the final project were traceable to earlier chapters, indicating strong constructive alignment. Formative knowledge checks, however, appeared in only three of the fifteen content chapters. The analysis produced a design framework and a revision and validation agenda for beginner web-programming materials in vocational and teacher education.