Improving Students' Critical Thinking Skills through E-LKPD Assisted by V-Lab and PBL with Proteus 8: A Case Study of Digital Instrument Material at SMA KP 2 Ciparay

Abstract

This study was motivated by the low critical thinking skills of students in introductory digital instrumentation at senior high school, which was caused by a theoretical learning approach and limited physical laboratory facilities, thus requiring innovative technology-based media to support contextual learning. The main objective of this study was to develop an E-LKPD assisted by a Virtual Laboratory (V-Lab) using Proteus 8 Professional with a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model to improve the critical thinking skills of grade XII MIPA-1 students at SMA KP 2 Ciparay. The research method adopted a Research and Development (R&D) approach using the ADDIE model, involving 31 students through the stages of needs analysis, design, development, implementation of two meetings, and evaluation, with instruments in the form of expert validation, observation of implementation, and pretest-posttest tests analysed using N-gain and paired t-tests. The results showed high validity of the E-LKPD (0.97 for the media and 0.84 for the material), good to very good learning implementation (average 82-85%), and a significant increase in critical thinking skills with an N-gain of 0.73 (high category), where 70.97% of participants achieved high improvement, especially in the basic support indicator (0.81) and semiconductor sub-material (0.74). The research conclusion states that V-Lab and PBL-based E-LKPD effectively transform physics learning into an interactive experience, with implications for increasing student motivation and independence. The research contributes to the fields of education and communication by providing an inclusive digital instructional media model, reducing laboratory access disparities, and enriching STEM learning strategies in the digital era, thereby supporting the transformation of the independent curriculum with potential implications for replication in other state schools.