Virtual Chemistry Laboratory for Methods of Separating Mixtures: A Design, Development, and Evaluation of a Mobile Application

Kristine Joy Q. Garcia¹, Monica B. Guibar¹, Nova Mae Llamera², Jennie Rose Sacay¹ and Angelo Mark P. Walag^1,

¹Department of Science Education, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Philippines

²Philippine Statistics Authority, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Cite this paper:
Kristine Joy Q. Garcia, Monica B. Guibar, Nova Mae Llamera, Jennie Rose Sacay and Angelo Mark P. Walag. Virtual Chemistry Laboratory for Methods of Separating Mixtures: A Design, Development, and Evaluation of a Mobile Application. Journal of Innovations in Teaching and Learning. 2022; 2(1):18-23. doi: 10.12691/jitl-2-1-3

Abstract

The laboratory component of the general chemistry course has long been regarded as a crucial component of the curriculum. Due to disruptions brought about by the pandemic, access to laboratory instruction has been reduced. This poses a problem in science education as learners will have difficulty grounding their chemistry lectures in hands-on exercises. As such, this study aims to design, develop, and evaluate a virtual chemistry laboratory application for methods of separating mixtures as a remote alternative to face-to-face laboratory activities. A design and development research design was utilized to develop the mobile application. An adopted application evaluation rubric and intrinsic motivation inventory were used to evaluate the app. Based on the results of the evaluation, the application was found to be accurate in terms of concept, and it is accessible due to its offline feature. Similarly, students found the application to be fun and important during their use. This suggests that mobile applications can be potentially used as part of remote strategies to address face-to-face class disruptions brought about by the pandemic. It is recommended that an experimental study be conducted to compare the use of virtual laboratory activities and face-to-face laboratory activities.

Keywords:
chemistry education mobile learning digital technologies virtual laboratory

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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