TEACHERS’ AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS OF VIRTUAL LABORATORIES ON ACQUISITION OF BIOLOGY PRACTICAL SKILLS IN LAGOS STATE

Abstract

The study investigated teachers’ level of awareness and
perception of the use of virtual laboratory on the acquisition of
biology practical skills. A descriptive survey design was adopted
for the study. The population of the study was over 1,200 biology
teachers in Lagos State. A sample size of 138 Biology teachers
from the six Educational Districts of Lagos State was selected
through a multi-stage sampling technique. Mixed methods were
employed involving the use of standardized interviews, video clips
to gather qualitative data while a validated structured
questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.74 titled ‘Virtual
laboratory and Biology practical skills’ (VLABPS) containing 15
items was used to collect quantitative data. Data were analyzed
using frequency count and percentages. Results showed that the
level of awareness of virtual laboratory among Biology teachers
was generally low as biology teachers showed ignorance of the
concept of virtual laboratories on the acquisition of Biology
practical skills. Although, enlightenment and awareness were
generated with the intervention of the video clip on virtual
laboratories. The study, therefore, recommended that Biology
teachers should be engaged in workshops on the use of Virtual
laboratories to teach Biology practical skills while Pre-service
teachers on teaching practice should be encouraged by their
supervisors to use virtual laboratories for teaching Biology
practical skills. The teacher education curriculum should be
enhanced to include the concept and utilization of virtual
laboratories.