Effect of Camera Simulator Application for Basic Photography Subjects at Vocational School: One-Group Pre-test and Post-test Design

This study examines the impact of using the camera simulator application in basic photography subjects for students cognitive skills majoring in broadcasting and film in vocational high schools in Indonesia. Camera simulators have the advantage of providing opportunities for students to practice more freely and independently. In this study, the CamSim Pro application was employed as the camera simulator and was installed on desktop systems. Eighty eligible students from Public Vocational High School (PVHS) 10 Bandung participated in using the camera simulator as an intervention technology in two topics in basic photography subjects: aperture priority mode and shutter priority. This study adopts a quasi-experimental research method with a one-group pre-test and post-test design, examining the impact of camera simulator intervention. This research uses five stages, (1) designing the pre-test and its evaluation, (2) selecting the group/population to be tested, (3) preparing and providing a camera simulator intervention, (4) designing the post-test and evaluating it, and (5) conducting data analysis referring to the results of the pre-test and the post-test. The data normality test uses the Kolgomorov-Smirnov method and the Shapiro-Wilk method. Data analysis to measure the impact of technological interventions uses the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks method and the significance of the technological interventions using the Z statistic and asymptotic significance. Analysis of the collected data unveiled a compelling narrative. The Z statistic exhibited a notable value of −4.897, paired with an asymptotic significance value of < 0.001. These findings support the hypothesis that integrating a camera simulator to facilitate learning significantly enhances students’ cognitive skills in fundamental photography subjects.