THE EFFECT OF USING CULTURAL DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS ON STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL STUDIES MATERIAL AMONG GRADE VIII STUDENTS AT SMPN 2 ARJASA

This study was motivated by the low level of students’ understanding of Social Studies (IPS) material in Grade VIII at SMPN 2 Arjasa, which was attributed to the dominance of lecture-based teaching methods and the suboptimal use of learning media. This study aimed to determine the effect of using cultural documentary videos on students’ understanding of Social Studies material. The study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental method with a nonequivalent control group design. The research sample consisted of Class VIII A as the control group, which used PowerPoint presentations, and Class VIII B as the experimental group, which used cultural documentary videos. Data were collected through pretests and posttests, while data analysis included normality and homogeneity tests, as well as an Independent Samples T-Test using SPSS version 22. The results indicated that the data were normally distributed and homogeneous, with a significance value of 0.046, which was lower than 0.05. These findings demonstrate a statistically significant effect of cultural documentary videos on students’ understanding of Social Studies material. Therefore, cultural documentary videos can serve as a contextual learning medium to support students’ comprehension and provide teachers with an alternative approach to selecting effective instructional media.