Effects of virtual laboratory on the achievement levels and gender of secondary school chemistry students in individualized and collaborative settings in Minna.

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of virtual laboratory on the achievement levels and gender of secondary school chemistry students in individualized and collaborative settings in Minna, Nigeria. Five hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. 120 Senior Secondary Class Two (SS II) chemistry Students were stratified along gender and achievement levels. Sixty students (male, n = 30 & female, n = 30) were randomly selected from each school. The study employed a quasi-experimental involving pretest, posttest, and control group design. A validated Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) made-up of twenty multiple-choice items was used for data collection. A reliability coefficient of 0.91 was obtained from the pilot test using Kuder Richardson (KR-20). Mean and ANCOVA were employed in analyzing the data. The results showed that: (i) Students exposed to chemistry virtual laboratory package in collaborative learning setting outperformed their counterparts in individualized setting; (ii) there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught using Chemistry using Virtual Laboratory in Individualized Setting; (iii) There was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught chemistry using virtual laboratory in collaborative learning setting; (iv) there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of high, medium and low students taught using chemistry virtual laboratory in collaborative, and individualized settings respectively. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the use of virtual laboratory instruction in collaborative setting should be encouraged in teaching chemistry at senior secondary schools in Nigeria.