The Effect of the Virtual Laboratory on Students’ Achievement and Attitude in Chemistry

In chemistry education laboratory activities increase students’ interest in the subject matters covered in the class and help their learning. Due to lack of laboratories at schools or insufficient instruments in laboratories, hands on experiments are rarely performed in state schools in Turkey. However, such experiments can be virtually done as a result of recent developments in Information Technology. In this study, a virtual laboratory related to ‚Separation of Matter‛ unit for 9th grade students was prepared and its effects on students’ achievements and attitudes were investigated. For this aim 16 virtual experiments prepared by using flash program and used in the experimental group. Result of this study showed that virtual laboratory applications made positive effects on students’ achievements and attitudes when compared to traditional teaching methods.