Effect of Virtual Laboratory on Academic Achievement and Attitude of Physics Students in Nigerian Colleges of Education

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of virtual laboratory on Academic achievement and attitude of physics students in Nigerian colleges of education. The study employed a quasi-pre-test and post-test experimental design. A sample of 120 students randomly selected by balloting from 6 Colleges of Education in the Southwest, Nigeria was divided into two groups; experimental and control groups.

For the study, virtual laboratory related to the topics ‘Mechanics, Light, Electricity and heat were set up and used to instruct students in the experimental group while the control group was taught the same topic using traditional chalk and talk method. Two instruments; Achievement Test in Physics (ATP) and Attitudinal Scale in Physics (ASP) were developed and used to collect data. The data collected was analyzed using t-test. The results obtained from this study shows that the virtual laboratory used had a more positive impact on students'