Effect of Virtual Laboratory Strategy on Secondary School Physics Students’ Attitude in Simple Harmonic Motion in Ogun State

Abstract

The study examined effect of virtual laboratory strategy on secondary school
Physics students’ attitude in Simple Harmonic Motion in Ogun State. One
hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 levels of significance. The study
adopted pre-test, post-test, control group, quasi-experimental design. A total
of 166 Senior Secondary School 2 (SS2) Physics students in two senior
secondary schools intact classes in Ogun State were selected through multi-
stage sampling technique, participated in the study. One school was exposed
to each of the virtual laboratory strategy and conventional method for 8 weeks.
Physics Attitude Scale (PAS) with 20 items on a four-point Likert type scale
(r=0.73) was used for data collection. Data were analyzed with descriptive
and inferential statistics. There was a significant main effect of virtual
laboratory strategy on students’ attitude towards Physics (F(1,123)=5.318,
p<0.05, ?2=0.041).

The study concluded that virtual laboratory is more effective instructional
strategy than conventional method of teaching in enhancing students’ attitude
towards Physics because every student participated in one activity or the other
which enhanced conceptual understanding, creativity and critical thinking.
Consequently, it was recommended that this strategy should be constantly

used, while workshops and seminars should be organized for the teachers for
effective use of the strategy.