The Effectiveness of Teaching Using the Virtual Laboratory in Developing Physical Thinking Skills among Third-Grade Secondary Female Students in Physics

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of teaching through a virtual laboratory in developing physical thinking skills among third-grade secondary female students in physics. The targeted skills included understanding physical text, problem-solving, graph analysis, and identifying physical relationships. The researcher employed the quasi-experimental design with control and experimental groups. The study sample consisted of (67) students from government secondary schools for girls in the Al-Sulay Educational Office in Riyadh, with (34) students in the control group and (33) in the experimental group from Fatimah bint Muhammad Secondary School – National Guard. The unit Electric Current was taught using the virtual laboratory provided by the Ministry of Education via the Madrasati platform. The results revealed statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-test scores in favor of the post-test for all targeted skills. Additionally, significant differences were found between the control and experimental groups in the post-test in favor of the experimental group. The calculated effect sizes (η²) indicated a high effect, confirming the effectiveness of the virtual laboratory in enhancing students’ physical thinking skills. Based on the findings, the study recommended expanding the use of virtual laboratories in teaching physics at the secondary level, training teachers to integrate them effectively, and incorporating them into classroom practices to promote students’ physical thinking skills.