Effect of Offline Virtual Laboratory Simulation on Students’ Practical Skills in Acid-Base Titration in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Le résumé fourni par la source

This study investigated the effect of an Offline Virtual Laboratory Simulation (OVLS) on secondary school students’ practical skills acquisition in acid-base titration in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design was adopted. A sample of 142 SS2 chemistry students from four co-educational public secondary schools in Ogbia Local Government Area was involved in the study. The experimental group (n=73) was taught using OVLS, while the control group (n=69) received conventional laboratory instruction. The Chemistry Practical Skills Test (CPST), validated by experts and with a reliability coefficient of 0.87 using inter-rater correlation, was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and ANCOVA. Findings revealed that students taught with OVLS achieved significantly higher practical skills scores than those taught with conventional methods. No significant main effect of gender on practical skills acquisition was found; however, a significant disordinal interaction effect of instructional method and gender was observed. Female students in the OVLS group outperformed their male counterparts, whereas no gender difference existed in the control group. It was recommended that secondary schools in Bayelsa State adopt OVLS to complement or substitute physical laboratories, that teacher training programs incorporate virtual lab pedagogies, and that policymakers ensure equitable access to offline digital resources for both male and female students.

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