Identifying Physics Measuring Instruments with Google Lens: A Descriptive Classroom Study

Abstract

Limited access to laboratory measuring instruments can constrain students’ opportunities to recognize measurement devices and connect them with physical quantities and units. This study describes the classroom use of Google Lens as a visual-search aid for identifying physics measuring instruments. Participants were 60 Grade X students from classes X-1 and X-2 at SMA Negeri 1 Panarukan. Students used Google Lens to examine 12 images of measuring instruments and completed worksheets requiring five elements for each image: instrument name, measured quantity, type of quantity, unit shown on the instrument, and SI unit. A descriptive trial-and-error procedure was used, and responses were scored from 0 to 5 for each image. The original classroom data show that 39 students obtained scores of 81–100 and 13 obtained scores of 61–80; consequently, 65% were categorized as very good and 22% as good, giving a combined 87% in the good or very-good categories. Google Lens identified some instruments directly, while other images required additional searching, discussion, and reasoning because recognition was affected by image source, camera focus, and lighting. These findings indicate that visual search can provide a practical supplementary resource for introducing measuring instruments when physical laboratory equipment is limited. Because the study used descriptive classroom data without a comparison group or pretest–posttest inferential analysis, the results should not be interpreted as a causal estimate of learning effectiveness.