The influence of virtual physics laboratory on students’ performance in motion_a case study at Bishop Herman College, Kpando

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to find out the influence of virtual physics laboratory on students‟ performance in motion. The total population for the study was 63 second year science students of Bishop Herman College, Kpando; 42 in the control group and 21 in the experimental. Quasi-experimental design was adopted in this study. Questionnaire, test and opinionnaire were the researched instrument used. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 16.0 statistical analysis program. Descriptive statistics such as mean, Standard Deviation were calculated and inferential statistics of paired sample t-test was used to test if significant differences exist in the understanding of motion between the experimental and control groups after the intervention. Alpha level of 0.05 was used as a criterion of either accepting or rejecting the null hypotheses. The mean test score of the experimental group (22.2) was higher than their control group (13.6) counterparts in the post-test. The t- test analysis of the mean score on the post-test shows a significant difference between the 2 groups (t = 5.465; p < 0.05). Therefore the null hypothesis which states “There isno significant difference in the understanding of motion between the experimental and control groups after the intervention was rejected”.The result also revealed that,for teaching and learning to take place effectively in physics lessons, interest of students in physics lessons specifically, motion, and motivation during motion lessons need to be considered. The study further revealed that students learned concept of motion effect through virtual physics lab in a better way as compared to teaching in abstract.