Effect of Virtual Chemistry Laboratory on Senior Secondary School Chemistry Students’ Academic Achievement in Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of virtual chemistry laboratory on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State. Two research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The researcher adopted a quasi experimental research design for this study. This study was conducted in Enugu Education zone. The population for the study comprised all public co- education senior secondary school two (SS II) students in Enugu Education Zone, academic session. They were four thousand, four hundred and twelve (4,412) SS II chemistry students. Purposive random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 334 SS II students. However, the number of chemistry students in the experimental group was 203, while there were 131 chemistry students in the control group drawn from 4 schools out of twenty-three co-education secondary schools in Enugu Education zone. Chemistry Practical Achievement Test (CPAT), used as Pre-Test (PRECPAT). The instrument was developed by the researcher and validated by experts. The reliability coefficient of the instrument obtained using spearman-brown prophecy formula was 0.81. The pretest was administered to subjects in both groups to measure their knowledge in separation techniques. The control group was taught separation techniques for four weeks using only the class demonstration method while the experimental group was also taught separation techniques for four weeks with virtual laboratory demonstration method. POSTCPAT was administered to all the subjects at the end of the fourth week. Two weeks after the administration of POSTCPAT, the PPCPAT was administered to both groups. The results revealed that the students who were taught using virtual chemistry laboratory method achieved better than those who were taught using demonstration method. It was also discovered that gender has no effect on the achievement of those exposed to treatment. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that the use of virtual chemistry laboratory should be encouraged since most chemical concepts are abstract in nature.