Teaching and learning efficacy of virtual laboratory package on selected Nigerian secondary school physics concepts.

Abstract

Abstract. The study investigated the teaching and learning efficacy of virtual laboratory package on three Nigerian secondary school physics concepts. Three research questions were raised while two hypotheses were tested. The study adopted mix-method for analysis. A quasi-experimental procedure involving two levels of independent primary variable and one dependent variable was used while questionnaire was used to elicit responses of physics teachers who evaluated the Virtual Physics Laboratory Package (VPLP). Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 22 physics teachers and 60 physics students from Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria. Intact classes of secondary school class two physics students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. VPLP, physics teachers’ evaluation questionnaire and physics achievement test were used as research instruments after have been determined to be valid and reliable for the study. Data gathered from the administration of research instruments were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistic in SPSS 16.0 version. Findings revealed that physics teachers agreed that VPLP satisfies the objectives and procedures of learning simple pendulum, Hooke’s law and momentum experiments with average mean response of 2.85 out of 5, there was no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students taught the selected physics concepts using virtual physics laboratory package and those taught using conventional laboratory instruction t (58) = 0.139, p > 0.05. The package was found adequate and effective in the teaching and learning of selected physics concepts. Hence it was recommended that physics students should endeavor to explore the opportunities offered by virtual physics laboratory package for revision purpose as well as for individualized learning of physics experiments.