BRIDGING THE GAP WITH TECHNOLOGY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VIRTUAL LABS AND SIMULATIONS ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of virtual laboratory and simulation 
instructional approaches on secondary school students' academic achievement in 
Biology in Anambra State, Nigeria, and examined the influence of gender on 
learning outcomes. A quasi-experimental, non-randomized pre-test post-test non
equivalent group design was adopted. A sample of 98 SS1 Biology students (40 
males; 58 females) drawn from co-educational secondary schools in Nnewi 
Education Zone participated in the study. Data were collected using the Biology 
Achievement Test (BAT), a 40-item multiple-choice instrument adapted from past 
West African Examinations Council questions, with a reliability coefficient of 0.88 
obtained via the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20. Descriptive statistics (mean and 
standard deviation) were used to answer the research questions, whilst Analysis of 
Covariance (ANCOVA), with pre-test scores as covariate, was used to test the 
hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students in the 
virtual laboratory group recorded a mean achievement gain of 43.00, marginally 
higher than the 41.80 recorded by the simulation group, though the difference was 
not statistically significant (F = 0.608, p = 0.437). Gender had no significant 
influence on achievement in either group, and there was no significant interaction 
effect of teaching method and gender on students' achievement in Biology. Both 
instructional approaches are therefore comparably effective and gender-neutral 
tools for enhancing Biology learning outcomes at the secondary school level. It was 
recommended that Biology teachers integrate virtual laboratory and simulation 
strategies into their instruction, and that government and school administrators 
provide the technological infrastructure necessary to support their sustained 
implementation.