This study is purposed to examine the effects of the virtual lab and the real experimental activity in the lesson of 'Digestion' of the 7th grade students, and to diagnose if it is possible to introduce the virtual lab under the school field.
The virtual lab programs We utilized are 'Detection of Nutrients' and 'Which Substance Passes Through Cellophane?', found in Edunet and Scienceall, and 'Function of Saliva' that I developed for the lesson. The subjects of this study were 176 students of the 7th grade in Seoul.
They were divided into two groups. One was the group of the real experimental activity in the laboratory, and the other was that of the virtual lab in the computer room. Three different experiments in the lesson of 'Digestion' have been done through three periods. Before and after the experiment, I examined each student's achievement and attitude toward science lessons.
After this, I examined only the group of the virtual lab by giving a questionnaire on the virtual lab. The data of this study was analyzed with ANCOVA, T-Test, and Frequencies, by using the SPSS 11.0 program.
The conclusion of this study are summarized as follows.
First, there was no meaningful difference between two groups in improvement of achievement and students' attitude according to the teaching techniques (p>.05).
Second, each group had no meaningful difference in improvement of achievement according to student's gender(p>.05). However, male students' attitude has been improved more meaningfully than female students' attitude in the real experimental activity(p<.05).
Third, students responded positively to the virtual lab program which was developed for this study. It shows that the virtual lab program can be useful as a teaching-learning material. Especially it is required to develop various programs because most students want the virtual lab in their future science class.
Fourth, students preferred the individual experiment in the virtual lab and they preferred the small group experiment in the real experimental activity. We should consider the form of activity - the individual activity or the group activity, according to the teaching techniques.
According to the result of this study, I suggest that we develop high-leveled virtual labs to introduce to each school by experts.