Virtual Laboratory as an Alternative Teaching Strategy in Electrochemistry

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The additional feature of the K-12 curriculum is the 2-year senior high school. These additional years in basic education aims to allow every student to receive a quality education that is globally competitive based on a pedagogically sound curriculum that is at par with international standards. But upon its implementation, the senior high school faces enormous challenges. One identified problems in our school, GJCSHS, is the insufficient lab materials and equipment which are needed to address competency that requires lab experiment. As the sole public school in the City of Imus that offers STEM, we are unfortunate of not having sufficient lab materials but privileged enough to have computer laboratories and internet access.

METHODS

To address the lack of lab materials, I compared the virtual lab with a hands-on lab to know if it can be used as an alternative strategy in teaching electrochemistry. I used the experimental method with two-group design in which the Grade 12 STEM learners of GJCSHS were divided into the hands-on lab and virtual lab group. To gather the data, a validated researcher-made test was administered to the two groups. The obtained raw data was treated with t-test analysis with a 0.05 level of significance and the learning gain of the learners were also computed.

RESULTS

It was found out that the learners gained 64.12% learning after performing the virtual lab, this result is significantly the same as 64.89% learning gain of the learners who performed the traditional lab. The result of the posttest also suggests that traditional lab and the virtual lab will give the same level of learning to students.

DISCUSSIONS

The virtual lab is beneficial if you have clear goals on what you want to achieve especially if your target is to improve learners' conceptual learning and design skills. On the other hand, if your goal is to foster not just the conceptual learning and design skills but also the social and professional skills of the learners, it is recommended to use a traditional lab. To have further information about virtual laboratory it is recommended to study its effectiveness using other science learning competencies and use samples from different strands.