Student’s Perception of Virtual Breadboard Simulator and

TeamViewer in Digital Electronics

Rudi Mulya

, Nizwardi Jalinus

, Hansi Effendi

, Khairul Muttaqin

and DessyDwisusila

Department of Electrical Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka, Padang, Indonesia

Department of Machine Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka, Padang, Indonesia

Department of Informatics Engineering, Universitas Samudra, Jl. Prof. Dr. Syarief Tayeb, Langsa, Indonesia

Department of English Education, Universitas Riau,Kampus Bina Widya Km 12,5 Simpang Baru Pekanbaru, Indonesia

dessy.dwisusila@lecturer.unri.ac.id

Keywords: Virtual Breadboard Simulator, Teamviewer, Digital Electronics.

Abstract: This research aims to describe the quality of digital electronics practicum with Virtual Breadboard Simulator

and TeamViewer. This quality can be seen in the effectiveness and perceptions of students. The research uses

descriptive quantitative research methods. The research subjects were 21 students majoring in Electronic

Engineering at D3 Padang State University who took the Digital Electronics Practicum course. Data on

student perceptions of product display aspects (Simulator and TeamViewer) were obtained from student

response questionnaire sheets with indicators of clarity of usage instructions, legibility, image display quality,

color composition, communication facilities, and ease of operation. The data were analyzed using the

percentage of responses from students according to their respective indicators. The results showed that

students had a positive reaction to practicum activities. Therefore, it is concluded that the digital electronics

practicum with the Virtual Breadboard application has good quality if the implementation is assisted by

TeamViewer, which is carried out in groups and works together in real-time in building a circuit.

1 INTRODUCTION

Vocational education as education-for-work is based

on the philosophy of essentialism, pragmatism, and

existentialism (Sudira, 2012). Education that has the

combined characteristics of education and training

functions (Vokasi, 2020), Balanced theory and

practice-oriented towards specific skills and job

readiness of graduates (Haris et al., 2020), (Utami et

al., 2018). Vocational education based on its

characteristics has very important practical/practice

learning (Sasongko & Widiastuti, 2019).

The purpose of the practicum is to test and apply

the theory and scientific evidence learned in a course

or portion of a course(Haryoko & Jaya, 2018).

Practicum is also defined as a learning strategy that

allows students to empirically practice cognitive,

affective, and psychomotor abilities using laboratory

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-7497

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6995-1897

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5981-7045

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3550-6584

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6211-049X

facilities (Utami, 2017).

Practicum is usually carried out in a real (hands-

on) laboratory, besides having advantages, it also has

several limitations, including (1) unable to meet

distance learning needs (Altalbe, 2018); (2) requires

longer instruction time; (3) unable to provide for

students' special needs(Burkett & Smith, 2016); (4)

expensive equipment and operations (Crandall et al.,

2015); and (5) unable to accommodate all the material

and limited time, resulting in failure to meet the

expected learning objectives(Brinson, 2015).

Laboratory practicum in vocational education is

very important to make students active in the learning

process (Belmawa, 2020), (Jaya, 2010). Moreover,

the knowledge gained through direct experience in

the laboratory is proven to be more profound and has

a long-term effect (Kastelan et al., 2015). Direct

experience in the laboratory can also be constrained

Mulya, R., Jalinus, N., Effendi, H., Muttaqin, K. and Dwisusila, D.

Student’s Perception of Virtual Breadboard Simulator and TeamViewer in Digital Electronics.

DOI: 10.5220/0012194500003738

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Innovation in Education (ICoIE 4 2022) - Digital Era Education After the Pandemic, pages 5-9

ISBN: 978-989-758-669-9; ISSN: 2975-9676

if a situation changes suddenly, such as the current

pandemic phenomenon.

In addition to the problems above, the education

system in Indonesia has undergone changes due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. The distance education system

is one method for overcoming social distance-related

obstacles to direct learning. one of the applications of

a distance learning system such as online lectures will

facilitate the learning process without the need for

face-to-face meetings(Dewantara et al., 2020). This

impact also has implications for digital electronics

practicum learning.

Digital Electronics Practicum is one of the

subjects that must be taken by students (UNP, 2018).

This course examines and exercises various digital

circuit types. Digital circuits are the foundation of all

digital systems currently in use(Luković et al., 2016).

Circuit logic is a central concept in understanding

how computers and electronics work. Currently,

several software has been produced that can visualize

and simulate it, such as Virtual Breadboard

Simulator.

1.1 Virtual Breadboard Simulator

A simulator is software that simulates physical

instruments such as measuring instruments or other

real systems. A simulator is a form of an interactive

multimedia object consisting of heterogeneous

formats consisting of sound, graphics, hypertext, text,

animation, images, videos, which contain both

implicit and explicit learning objectives and are

digital. The purpose of the simulator is to provide

simulative facilities that allow students to conduct

experiments conducted like a real (hands-on)

laboratory.

A breadboard is a circuit board whose function is

to arrange electronic components and place them

without soldering them to electronic circuits. A

breadboard is used to connect one component with

other electronic components via cables. Virtual

Breadboard Simulator is one of the simulators that

can be used to support the Digital Electronics

practicum.

The Virtual Breadboard Simulator provides

virtual tools and materials in the form of Breadboard

with its power supply, various types of TTL logic

transistors, switch components, LED and 7-segment

displays, cables, and logic probes, and much more.

This simulator is developed by James Caska which is

open source. The Virtual Breadboard Simulator

display is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Initial View of Virtual Breadboard Simulator.

Figure 1 depicts the display of the Virtual

Breadboard simulator. This simulator enables

students to design circuits that are more complex and

sophisticated than in actual practice. Due to the

limited number of components available in the

physical kit, this is the case (Lum Tan & Venema,

2019). In Virtual Breadboard there is a menu for

building sequential or combinational sequences.

Figure 2: Tools in the Virtual Breadboard Simulator.

1.2 TeamViewer

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of

communication media for digital electronics

practicums needs to be increased. Communication

media used to support practicum activities can run

collaboratively online so that there is interaction

between lecturers and students, between students and

practicum equipment. One of the software used is

TeamViewer. The TeamViewer interface looks like

Figure 3.

Figure 3: TeamViewer Interface and Virtual Breadboard

Simulator.

ICoIE 4 2022 - The Fourth International Conference on Innovation in Education

Supporting online practicum activities with

software that offers a collaborative approach, with an

online meeting menu and TeamViewer remote

desktop access. TeamViewer is a speedy and easy-to-

use remote meeting and desktop control solution that

also boasts a high level of security. For the sake of a

complete answer, TeamViewer can be used to (1)

meeting functions, such as for training sessions; (2)

display the desktop for meetings, collaborations or

presentations; (3) assist coworkers, friends, or

customers remotely on an as-needed basis; (4) Use

these free Android and iOS meeting applications to

join in on the go! (5) Linked machines may use a

variety of operating systems; and (6) TeamViewer

operates under Windows,Linux Operating System or

Mac OS.

Based on the need to conduct a Digital Electronics

practicum, this study seeks to characterize student

reactions to the display component of the Digital

Electronics Practicumwhich was carried out with a

Virtual Breadboard simulator and online

collaboration with TeamViewer.

2 METHOD

This research uses descriptive quantitative research

methods. The research subjects were 21 students

majoring in Electronics Engineering D3 Padang State

University who took the Digital Electronics

Practicum course. Data on responses were obtained

from student response questionnaires with indicators:

1) clarity of usage instructions, 2) image display

quality, 3) legibility, 4) color composition, 5) ease of

operation, and 6) communication facilities (Muchlas,

2015). Determination of the tendency of student

responses is done by using the percentage technique

using equation (1) as follows:

𝑃



𝑛



𝑥









𝑛



𝑥









𝑛



𝑥









𝑛



𝑥









𝑛



𝑥





𝑁

𝑥

𝑥100%

P represents the percentage of reaction, as

described by the expression in Equation (1),

𝑛



, 𝑛



, 𝑛



, 𝑛



, 𝑛



each represents the number of

selections for a score of 1 for the choices STS

(strongly disagree), 2 for TS (disagree), 3 R for

(undecided), 4 for S (agree), and 5 for SS (strongly

agree); and N indicates the number of questionnaire

items.

The successful implementation of the digital

electronics practicum learning model may be

determined based on the descriptive analysis of the

collected data and the student response rate criteria

presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Student responses rate criteria.

Ran

e Level

80% - 100% Ver

Goo

66% - 79% Goo

56% - 65% Poo

0% - 55% Very Poo

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Students data responses on product display aspects

are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Student responses to product display aspect.

Component

Student

Score Maximum

Score

%Average

Clarity of

learning and

usa

e instructions

468 630 74,29

Image display

qualit

245 315 77,78

ibilit

242 315 76,83

Color

composition

258 315 81,90

Ease of o

eration 279 315 88,57

Quality of

communication

facilities

280 420 66,67

Total 1772 2310 76,71

Based on Table 2, a graph can be made showing

student responses to the product display aspect as

shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Student responses to product display aspect.

In the aspect of clarity of instructions for use, a

value of 74.29% was obtained. The meaning of these

values explains that the models and support systems

developed for the user guide are easy to learn and

apply.

Student’s Perception of Virtual Breadboard Simulator and TeamViewer in Digital Electronics

The picture quality was also responded well by

students. The results obtained are 77.78%. This value

indicates that the images and illustrations displayed

on the model and its support system, in particular,

Simulator programs and online collaborative support

systems are effective in arousing curiosity and

fostering student motivation.

Figure 4 also shows that the readability of the

perceived product is very good with a perception

level of 76.83%. These results indicate that the

display of letters in the Virtual Breadboard simulator

program as a substitute for real tools and materials, as

well as the TeamViewer program as an online

collaborative work tool, facilitates pupil

comprehension because it is simple to read.

The color composition aspect was very well

received by students with an average level of

education by 81.90%. These results indicate that the

composition of the supporting colors has been

changed to generate an aesthetically acceptable

composition in the student's answer.

In the aspect of ease of operation, a response of

88.57% was obtained, which indicates that the model

and its supporting system are easy to operate. Ease of

use is reflected in the results of student assessments

which show that the menus provided by learning

support devices are easy to recognize, read,

understand, and execute.

Regarding the quality of communication, it was

revealed that there was a poor response from the

qualitative data collected. This is due to the fact that

participants may encounter unanticipated

technological issues, such as slow internet

connections, which prevent the practicum from being

completed normally. Nevertheless, with a mean

response rate of 66.67%, the subject generally gave a

good response to aspects of the communication skills

of the support system. This demonstrates that services

like as chat rooms, voice over IP, video conferencing,

and file transfers may be utilized efficiently and

without difficulty used to support practical activities.

Researchers pay attention to the results of the

analysis, it can be stated that in student responses, the

product applied has given a good appearance with an

average response rate of 77.71%.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The conclusion of this study is that the Digital

Electronics Practicum using Virtual Breadboard

Simulator gets a positive reaction when TeamViewer

is used to facilitate its implementation. This is

confirmed by response statistics indicating that

students respond well to practicum activities. Due to

the epidemic, TeamViewer can be utilized to

facilitate online collaborative digital electronics

practicum through online practicum learning.

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Student’s Perception of Virtual Breadboard Simulator and TeamViewer in Digital Electronics